Abstract EN:

If Algeria and South Korea have in common the fact that they are two traditional countries which became nation-states after a more or less prolonged colonization period, their present political landscapes, resulting from a little more than three decades of history, are nonetheless considerably dissimilar in terms of democracy. The former has not yet achieved its transition whereas the latter has succeeded in introducing a democratic regime after a long period of authoritarian regime. How did this happened? Why are there differences? In an attempt to better understand these two societies' relationship to democracy, we have chosen to deal, in a descriptive manner, with the events which seemed significant to us and which gradually led to the introduction of democracy. The existence or the absence of a political opposition constitutes one of these major differences. The dialectical interaction between those in power and their opponents is quite revealing of the slow introduction of democracy in South Korea, whereas the absence of oppositionists to the Algerian populist regime is revealing of the problems in the running of the country. The pressure put by the foreign countries on the domestic policy is not inconsiderable and political populism is one of the main obstacles to democracy. In the end, the emphasis placed on freedom is more essential than the emphasis placed on equality.