Party Reputation, Moral Expectations and Voting Behaviour in South Korea

Do voters punish political parties for unsatisfactory performance on issues and traits the parties are expected to excel at? Issue and trait ownership theories stipulate that parties establish reputations regarding policy issues and attributes; voters then reward or punish the party depending on how much voter expectations were met. However, reactions to politicians’ performances may vary depending on voters’ moral intuitions and party affiliations. Analyzing survey and news data on the 2021 mayoral byelection in Seoul, South Korea, we find that party reputation and the expectation gap affected votes. Also, as moral foundations theory (MFT) suggests, differing moral priorities of liberal and conservative voters explain variation in responses to ethical violations. Our findings suggest the applicability of the party ownership framework and MFT in a newer, non-Western democracy. This study contributes to our understanding of voting behaviour in South Korea, with an emphasis on reputation, expectation gaps and moral intuitions.