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The politics of North Korea takes place within the framework of the official state philosophy, Juche, a concept created by Hwang Chang-yŏp and later attributed to Kim Il-sung.〔B. R. Myers: ''The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why It Matters.'' Pages 45–46. Paperback edition. (2011)〕 In practice, North Korea functions as a single-party state under a totalitarian〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Freedom in the World, 2006 )〕 family dictatorship, described even as an absolute monarchy〔Young W. Kihl, Hong Nack Kim. ''North Korea: The Politics of Regime Survival''. Armonk, New York, USA: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., 2006. Pp 56.〕〔Robert A. Scalapino, Chong-Sik Lee. ''The Society''. University of California Press, 1972. Pp. 689.〕〔Bong Youn Choy. A history of the Korean reunification movement: its issues and prospects. Research Committee on Korean Reunification, Institute of International Studies, Bradley University, 1984. Pp. 117.〕 with Kim Il-sung and his heirs as its rulers. The Economist Intelligence Unit, while admitting that "there is no consensus on how to measure democracy" and that "definitions of democracy are contested," lists North Korea as the most authoritarian regime in its index of democracy assessing 167 countries. North Korea's political system is built upon the principle of centralization. While the North Korean constitution formally guarantees protection of human rights, in practice there are severe limits on freedom of expression, and the government closely supervises the lives of North Korean citizens. The constitution defines the DPRK as "a dictatorship of people's democracy" under the leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea, which is given legal supremacy over other political parties. Despite the constitution's provisions for democracy, in practice, the Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un (grandson of the state's founder, Kim Il-sung), exercises absolute control over the government and the country. The ruling Workers' Party (WPK), is thought to allow some slight inner-party democracy (see Democratic centralism). The WPK has been in power since its creation in 1948. Two minor political parties also exist, but are legally bound to accept the ruling role of the WPK.〔 Elections occur only in single-candidate races where the candidate is effectively selected beforehand by the WPK.〔 Kim Il-sung ruled the country from 1948 until his death in July 1994, holding the offices of General Secretary of the WPK from 1949 to 1994 (titled as Chairman from 1949 to 1972), Prime Minister of North Korea from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to 1994. He was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong-il. While the younger Kim had been his father's designated successor since the 1980s, it took him three years to consolidate his power. He was named to his father's old post of General Secretary in 1997, and in 1998 became chairman of the National Defence Commission, which gave him command of the armed forces. The constitution was amended to make the NDC chairmanship "the highest post in the state." At the same time, the presidential post was written out of the constitution, and Kim Il-sung was designated "Eternal President of the Republic" in order to honor his memory forever. Most analysts believe the title to be a product of the cult of personality he cultivated during his life. The Western world generally views North Korea as a dictatorship; the government has formally replaced all references to Marxism–Leninism in its constitution with the locally developed concept of ''Juche'', or self-reliance. In recent years, there has been great emphasis on the ''Songun'' or "military-first" philosophy. All references to communism were removed from the North Korean constitution in 2009. The status of the military has been enhanced, and it appears to occupy the center of the North Korean political system; all the social sectors are forced to follow the military spirit and adopt military methods. Kim Jong-il's public activity focused heavily on on-the-spot guidance of places and events related to the military. The enhanced status of the military and military-centered political system was confirmed at the first session of the 10th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) by the promotion of NDC members into the official power hierarchy. All ten NDC members were ranked within the top twenty on September 5, and all but one occupied the top twenty at the fiftieth anniversary of the National Foundation Day on September 9. ==Political parties and elections== According to the constitution, North Korea is a Democratic Republic and the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) and Provincial People's Assemblies (PPA) are elected by direct universal suffrage and secret ballot. Suffrage is guaranteed to all citizens aged 17 and over.〔Wikisource:Constitution of North Korea〕 In reality, elections in North Korea are non-competitive and feature single-candidate races only. Those who want to vote against the sole candidate on the ballot must go to a special booth to cross out the candidate's name before dropping it into the ballot box—an act which, according to many North Korean defectors, is far too risky to even contemplate.〔"(North Korea votes for new rubber-stamp parliament )," Associated Press, March 8, 2009.〕 All elected candidates are members of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, a popular front dominated by the WPK. The two minor parties in the coalition are the Chondoist Chongu Party and the Korean Social Democratic Party; they also have a few elected officials. The WPK exercises direct control over the candidates selected for election by members of the other two parties.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Politics of North Korea」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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