Democratic Inconsistency" in the North Korean Nuclear Crisis

Abstract

According to democratic peace theory, contracts with democracy are more durable because they acquire "law-like" qualities. Compared to the "fickle" nature of dictatorships, democracy is a more "consistent" thus more "reliable" partner. There is an interesting puzzle, however, in the North Korean nuclear crisis. For the past 15 years, the US has been quite inconsistent. While the Clinton administration tried to "buy up" the North Korean nuclear program through the 1994 agreement, the Bush administration reversed earlier policies and refused to negotiate with an "axis of evil." During its last years, however, the Bush administration reversed its own policy, reviving an "undated" version of the "994 agreement. Moreover, such "democratic inconsistencies" do not seem isolated incidents in that South Korea another democracy has displayed similar "zigzags." By investigating these policy "zigzags," this paper attempts to theorize "democratic inconsistency" and analyze the North Korean nuclear crisis from such a viewpoint.