The Formation and Development of the Election Campaign Management and Funding System : Focusing on Discussions Regarding Regulations for Election Campaign Methods in Japan and Korea

Article 116 (2), and, in a broader sense, including Article 116 (1) of the Constitution, stipulate the Election Campaign Management and Funding System. This system aims to ensure equal opportunities for election campaigns among candidates, reduce the influence of money in the electoral process, and prevent corruption in elections. The Election Campaign Management and Funding System can be categorized into two types: one where certain election campaign methods are supported or subsidized by the state, and another where only the election campaign methods explicitly permitted by the state are allowed, while all other private methods are prohibited. However, within an Election Campaign Regulation system that comprehensively regulates campaign methods, the former type of public election system often operates similarly to the latter. This is because candidates, unable to freely choose their campaign methods, are de facto limited to using only those methods supported or subsidized under the Election Campaign Management and Funding System. Both the Japanese and Korean systems exemplify this phenomenon. In Japan, the 1934 revision of the House of Representatives Election Law established a structure of ‘extensive regulation and limited permission’ regarding election campaigns. Consequently, election campaigns in Japan became largely confined to methods permitted and subsidized by the state. Similarly, the 1958 Act on the Election of Members of the House of Commons in Korea established a framework of ‘comprehensive regulation and exceptional permission,’ akin to Japan's system. The framework created by the 1994 Act on the Election of Public Officials and the Prevention of Election Malpractices, enacted after the 1987 Constitution, is also similar. It is challenging to assert that the structure has fundamentally changed under the current Public Official Election Act in Korea. As a result, election campaigns by candidates de facto continue to be largely confined to the methods allowed under the Election Campaign Management and Funding System. Given the importance of the freedom to conduct election campaigns, it is necessary to eliminate the comprehensive regulation of campaign methods in the current Public Official Election Act. Such a change would better enable the Election Campaign Management and Funding System to achieve its objective of supporting and subsidizing election campaigns.