정당국고보조금제도의 헌법적 검토

Abstract

In Korea, in the 1980 Constitution, a new system was introduced so as to provide national subsidies that would increase the resources available to political parties. It was advocated to protect and to promote political parties, which are regarded as indispensible actors in the modern democracy. Under the subsidy provision of the Constitution, many political parties have been supplied a great amount of political funds. It is, however, questionable if such political funds have made political parties play their roles and do their duties imposed in the Constitution.It is, therefore, necessary to inquire into the rationale of state subsidy to a political party that is in itself a private association, the definition of state subsidy, the standard of its distribution, and the audit of state subsidy etc. This scrutiny leads to an examination of the constitutionality of the current subsidy system. Evaluating the provisions and the practices of the Acts concerning to subsidies, we can find some factors making dysfunctions of the subsidy system ― such as misconceptions of the constitutional rationale, incorrect understanding of the definition, and the clumsy combination of the system.The state subsidy to political parties is not a blind financial aid, but a supporting fund helping political parties fulfill constitutional obligations. The rationale of granting money to political parties can be derived not only from the Art. 8 Sec. 2 of the Constitution, but also from Sec. 3 which is the provision of the role and the duty of a political party.From a standpoint of the participation through political finances, it is more desirable to set the budget on the basis of the number of voters and to distribute subsidies to political parties according to their number of votes.