Previous studies have shown that social media is effective in large-scale mobilization, facilitating leaderless and more flexible forms of resistance. However, some scholars argue that this type of mobilization suffers from a lack of organizational form and collective identity. This paper shows that social media-centered networks can in fact promote collective actions powerful enough to challenge a corrupt president. We also prove the role of emotions in collective actions. Using an empirical analysis of the 2016 Presidential Impeachment Protests surrounding “Choi Soon-sil Gate,” we first demonstrate the effects of social media activities on participation in collective actions. Next, we explore the effects of anger on social media activities and participation. In short, this study reveals a new angle on social media’s influence in mobilizing collective actions by analyzing the effect of emotions on participation. In this process, social media activities are escalated by emotional outbreaks, and participation then increases throughout a given collective action.

Many previous studies have proven that social media is more likely to promote selective exposure in the acquisition of political information and to escalate political polarization than is older media. However, this study argues that the impact of social media on selective exposure and political polarization occurs differently according to the characteristics of their platforms. To prove this argument, we firstly compared old and social media in terms of their impact on selective exposure. Secondly, we compared the two different types of social media, Facebook and KakaoTalk, to examine their influences on selective exposure and the political polarization of public opinion during the presidential impeachment in South Korea. As a result, we observed that people using social media were more selective in choosing news sources than those using television. We also found that users of KakaoTalk were more selective in acquiring political information on the presidential impeachment than were Facebook users, and the same consequences appeared in political polarization. Therefore, we determined that the political and social influence of social media varies according to its platform characteristics.

Legislative responses to social changes signify how representative democracy works. Yet research is still needed to find out whether and how representatives in new democratic countries address the constituents’ interests and demands. We revisit the 18th National Assembly in Korea (2008–12) to examine legislative activities surrounding the issue of economic inequality. To understand how lawmakers in the new democracy like Korea respond to the demands of redistributive policies, we turn to representatives’ co-sponsorship behaviour. We find that Korean lawmakers do respond to constituents’ preferences. More specifically, Korean lawmakers representing conservative districts tend to care less about economic inequality than other representatives while controlling their partisanship. This study fleshes out the link between the represented and the representatives in a new democracy where party discipline at the expense of constituency connection has long dominated legislative politics.

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