Week 2 ~ J. Miguel Delacruz

What government system would you prefer when thinking about re-branding a nation? State the nation you are thinking of and explain/justify your answer.

I think a democratic government with strong control of the market is the most effective way to rebrand a nation. When we look at South Korea’s recent government policies, we find that the recent focuses of several South Korean leaders were, and still is, to improve Korean cultural arts as a way to find its identity and improve its global standing. In Haksoon Yim’s article titled “Cultural Identity and Cultural Policy in South Korea”, the primary focus of South Korean leaders stemming from Park Chung Hee’s rule from 1961-1979, all the way to the government of Kim Dae Jung were to promote Korean art, culture, and nationalism in order to produce economic growth. Many of the campaign slogans and policies of the various parties were very similar, with some of them written as, “ten year plan for cultural development” or “the master plan for cultural welfare”. As we see now with the ever-rising popularity of K-Pop, the importance of a government with strong control of the market is needed to drive a country to reaching its goal.

The democratic aspect of a system such as this is also as important in rebranding a nation. The relationship between a government and it’s people should be transparent, parallel, and should follow the ideals of an agreeable social contract. Transparency is key as it translates directly to political honesty. The people should know exactly what the government they elected are doing so as to build and maintain that trust. Parallelism between the people and the government is necessary to assure that the government and its people are working towards its achieving a new national aesthetic. The social contract theory suggests that there must be an exchange between the people and the government in order to maintain a successful society. The people must give up certain rights to the government, and in turn the government must give the people a benefit, or a reason as to why they gave up that right. When transparency and parallelism have been established between the people and the government, constructing an agreeable social contract becomes easier. This is because the people trust the government when they give up their rights, to give them something beneficial in turn. In the example of South Korea, the people allowed the government to take complete control of the media and censorship powers, because they trusted the government to promote their goal of reaching a new national aesthetic through the entertainment industry.

*can national branding be achieved without the help of government?

(The Korean government implemented policies to promote the entertainment industry.)
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works cited/consulted:
1.      Haksoon Yim (2002) Cultural identity and cultural policy in South Korea, International Journal of Cultural Policy, 8:1, 37-48