Section 3 Legal Life and Changes in Legal Awareness
3. Legal Life and Level of Law Observance
1) Analysis of Survey Findings
Question 4) Do you agree or disagree that law is duly complied with in our society?
Result %
··· ···
Strongly agree 2.3
Agree 47.2 49.5
Disagree 46.6 50.0
Strongly disagree 3.5
Don't know/No opinion 0.5
···
Total (N=3,000) 100.0
[General Analysis]
When asked whether law is duly complied with, 49.5% of respondents
chose ‘strongly agree (2.3%)’ or ‘agree (47.2%)’, compared to 50.0% of
respondents who chose ‘disagree (46.6%)’ or ‘strongly disagree (3.5%)’,
which was slightly higher than in the former surveys.
Section 3 Legal Life and Changes in Legal Awareness
<Figure 20> Whether Law is Duly Complied with in Our Society
Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly
disagree Don’t know/
No opinion 49.5%
2.3
50.0% (n=3,000, %)
47.2 46.6
3.5 0.5
[Cluster Analysis]
Based on a cluster analysis of responses on whether law is duly complied with, the ratio of agreement is higher among women than men (52.4% vs. 46.4%). The analysis also indicates that the agreement ratio is relatively higher in the 50s and over age group, those with lower levels of education, a large size of area, and higher levels of subjective stratum identification. Based on occupation, the agreement ratio is shown to be lower in the order of ‘unemployed/other (61.6%)’, ‘student (58.5%)
100)’
100) A survey on ‘whether law is duly complied with in our society’ was conducted by Professor Sung-Hyuk Park, the Department of Social Studies Education, Seoul National University, upon commission of the Ministry of Justice with 1,762 attendees of eight secondary schools across the country on July 8-10, 2009 (http://m.blog.daum.net/mojjustice/8703533# as of October 2015). According to the survey, a majority of the respondents strongly disagreed (22.6%) or disagreed (40.3%), and only 7.2% strongly agreed (1.6%) or agreed (5.6%), that law is duly complied with (28.9% chose ‘neither agree nor disagree’). The number of youths who believed law to be duly complied with in our society was less than one in ten.
Subsequently, a survey on ‘whether law is duly complied with in our society’ was also conducted by the Good Law through interviewing 2,125 undergraduate and
Chapter 2 Social Changes and Public Legal Awareness
Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
Gender Male 1,489 2.1 44.4 49.3 3.8 0.5 46.4 53.0
Female 1,511 2.5 49.9 43.9 3.2 0.5 52.4 47.1
Age
Self-employed 666 2.4 47.2 46.2 3.5 0.7 49.6 49.7 Blue-collar 588 3.4 46.7 46.4 3.1 0.4 50.1 49.5 White-collar 733 1.6 42.0 52.9 3.3 0.2 43.6 56.2
Full-time
housekeeper 563 2.6 58.4 35.8 2.5 0.7 61.0 38.3
Student 185 1.7 39.3 53.0 5.5 0.5 41.0 58.5
and ‘white-collar (56.2%)’.
<Table 25> Cluster Analysis of Law Observance on Social Level
graduate students across the country on April 13-22, 2015. According to the survey, 85.69% of the respondents disagreed, and only 12.48% agreed (12.24%) or strongly agreed (0.24%), that law is duly complied with in our society.
(http://www.goodlaw.org/bbs/view.asp?id=guide_item_bd&menu=guide&b_idx=460&page
=1 as of October 30, 2015).
Section 3 Legal Life and Changes in Legal Awareness
Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Middle class 1,527 2.5 48.6 45.3 3.0 0.6 51.1 48.3
Upper class 122 5.0 50.1 37.4 6.9 0.6 55.1 44.3
Question 4-1) (Only for the respondents who chose option 3 or 4 in Question 4) If so, what do you think is the main reason why people do not abide by law?
Result %
··· ···
Because people feel that they are disadvantaged when
abiding by law 42.5
Because many other people do not abide by law 18.9 Because people feel that complying with law is
burdensome and inconvenient 11.2
Because people believe that they could go unpunished
even though not complying with law 11.0
Because people are ignorant of law 7.2
Because people expect that, even though they do wrong,
others would not notice 6.8
Other 2.0
Don't know/No opinion 0.5
···
Total (N=1,501) 100.0
Chapter 2 Social Changes and Public Legal Awareness
[General Analysis]
Among respondents (N=1,501) who agree that law is not duly complied with, 42.5% believe that people do not comply with law ‘because they feel disadvantaged when abiding by law,’ followed by ‘because many other people do not comply with law’ (18.9%), ‘because complying with law is burdensome and inconvenient’ (11.2%), ‘because they believe that they could go unpunished even though not complying with law’ (11.0%),
‘because they are ignorant of law’ (7.2%), and ‘because they expect that, even though they do wrong, others would not notice’ (6.8%).
<Figure 21> Reasons Why People do Not Abide by Law
Because unpunished go even though
A chronological analysis of responses regarding law observance on the social level exhibits that the percentage of affirmative responses is increasing. As illustrated from the percentages, 17.6% in 1991 to 49.5%
in 2015, our society is developing into a more law-abiding society.
101)Section 3 Legal Life and Changes in Legal Awareness
<Figure 22> Chronological Change of Responses on Whether Law is Duly Complied with
102)Agree Disagree
1991 1994 1998 2015
17.6%
82.4%
21.1%
78.9%
37.1%
62.8%
49.5% 50.0%
A chronological analysis of responses as to why people do not abide by law reveals that the ratio of respondents who opted for, ‘because people feel disadvantaged when observing law’ increased from 34.3% in 2008, to 42.5% in 2015. The findings of this survey may reflect the
101) Meanwhile, a survey on ‘whether law is duly complied with’ conducted by the Good Law which interviewed 2,937 adults across the country on April 5-19, 2011 showed that the degree of law observance was considerably low as compared to the findings from this survey.
(http://www.goodlaw.org/bbs/view.asp?id=guide_item_bd&menu=guide&b_idx=315&page
=15 as of October 30, 2015).
According to the survey, 2,251 (76.64%) of the respondents disagreed that ‘law is duly complied with in our society.’ Specifically, the number of respondents who answered that ‘law is not duly complied with in our society’ was at least seven in ten, while less than two in ten (19.95%) answered that ‘law is duly complied with in our society.’ 50% of the respondents believed that people did not comply with law ‘because resorting to a man of power is more effective than abiding by law’, followed by ‘because law is not enforced fairly’ (22.61%) and ‘because they feel at disadvantaged when observing law’ (8.99%).
102) Park Sang-Chul and Two Others, “1991 Public Legal Awareness Survey Research”, Korea Legislation Research Institute, 1991, p. 79; Lee Se-Jung and Lee Sang-Yoon,
“2008 Public Legal Awareness Survey Research”, Korea Legislation Research Institute, 2008, p. 193; Park Sang-Chul and Two Others, “1994 Public Legal Awareness Survey Research”, Korea Legislation Research Institute, 1994, p. 107.
Chapter 2 Social Changes and Public Legal Awareness
social phenomena that, as recently reported in the headlines, some influential people go unpunished or receive very light sentences for crimes as compared to that of common citizens.
<Figure 23> Chronological Change of Responses as to Why People do Not Observe Law
103) inconvenient andBecause unpunished go even though
complying not with law
Other Don't know/
No opinion
A cluster analysis of responses as to why people do not comply with law demonstrates that the ratio of respondents who selected ‘because people feel disadvantaged when abiding by law’ is relatively higher in groups with higher levels of income, in a large size of area, and a larger number of generations within a household. The findings can be viewed as a distorted social climate that promotes non-compliance with law and
103) Lee, Se-Jung and Lee, Sang-Yoon, “2008 Public Legal Awareness Survey Research”, Korea Legislation Research Institute, 2008, p. 197.
Section 3 Legal Life and Changes in Legal Awareness
legal evasion for private gains.
<Table 26> Cluster Analysis of Responses as to Why People do Not Comply
with Law
Chapter 2 Social Changes and Public Legal Awareness
household 114 6.8 10.7 35.8 5.6 12.8 23.0 2.3 3.0
Question 5) Do you agree that you are a law-abiding citizen?
Result %
··· ···
Strongly agree 13.9
Agree 77.8 91.7
Disagree 8.0
Strongly disagree 0.1 8.1
Don't know/No opinion 0.2
···
Total (N=3,000) 100.0
(2) Law Observance on Individual Level
Section 3 Legal Life and Changes in Legal Awareness
[General Analysis]
When asked whether the respondents agree that they are law-abiding citizens, 91.7% of the respondents chose ‘strongly agree (13.9%)’ or
‘agree (77.8%)’, compared to 8.1% of the respondents who chose
‘disagree (8.0%)’ or ‘strongly disagree (0.1%)’, which was 83.6% lower than the previous surveys. This reflects the fact that most people believe that law observance on the individual level is higher than the observance of law on the social level.
<Figure 24> Whether One is a Law-Abiding Citizen
Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree
Don’t know/
No opinion (n=3,000, %)
8.1%
91.7%
13.9
77.8
8.0
0.1 0.2
About 52.3% of respondents who agree that they are law-abiding citizens believed that law is duly complied with in society, while 81.7%
of respondents who disagreed that they are law-abiding citizens answered
that law is not duly complied with in society.
Chapter 2 Social Changes and Public Legal Awareness
<Table 27> Comparison of Law Observance between Individual Level and Social Level
Law Observance on Social Level Law Observance on
Individual Level
Agree Disagree Don’t Know/
No Opinion
Agree 52.3% 47.2% 0.5%
Disagree 18.3% 81.7% 0.0%
A chronological analysis of responses regarding law observance on the individual level exhibits that the ratio of affirmative responses slightly increased compared to 2008.
<Figure 25> Chronological Change of Law Observance on Individual Level
104)Agree Disagree
2008 2015
91.0%
9.1%
91.7%
8.1%
104) Lee, Se-Jung and Lee, Sang-Yoon, “2008 Public Legal Awareness Survey Research”, Korea Legislation Research Institute, 2008, p. 201.
Section 3 Legal Life and Changes in Legal Awareness
Classification (Unit: %)
Number of Respondents
Strongly
Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
Don’t Know/
No Opinion
Total Agree Disagree
Total 3,000 13.9 77.8 8.0 0.1 0.2 91.7 8.1
Gender
Male 1,489 11.8 77.0 11.0 0.1 0.1 88.8 11.1
Female 1,511 15.9 78.6 5.0 0.1 0.4 94.5 5.1
Age
20-29 529 10.5 76.6 12.7 0.0 0.2 87.1 12.7
30-39 560 9.7 81.7 8.0 0.3 0.3 91.4 8.3
40-49 644 13.6 78.8 7.4 0.0 0.2 92.4 7.4
50-59 594 15.9 77.2 6.8 0.2 0.0 93.1 7.0
60 and over 673 18.5 75.1 5.8 0.1 0.5 93.6 5.9
Ideological Inclination
Progressive 683 12.2 78.2 8.9 0.3 0.4 90.3 9.2
Moderate 1,462 12.1 79.5 8.2 0.1 0.2 91.5 8.2
Conservative 855 18.4 74.6 6.8 0.1 0.1 93.0 6.9
[Cluster Analysis]
A cluster analysis of responses as to whether one is a law-abiding citizen demonstrates that the percentage of agreement is 94.5% among women and 88.8% among men, in which the former is over 5% higher than the latter. The agreement ratio is relatively higher in higher aged groups with a conservative inclination.
<Table 28> Cluster Analysis of the Degree of Law Observance on Individual Level
Chapter 2 Social Changes and Public Legal Awareness
Question 5-1) (Only for respondents who chose option 3 or 4 in Question 5) If so, what do you think is the main reason why you do not comply with law?
Result %
··· ···
Because I feel that I am disadvantaged when abiding by law 36.1 Because I feel that complying with comply with law is burdensome
and inconvenient 23.2
Because other people do not comply with law 14.1 Because I expect that, even though I do wrong, others would not notice 9.7
Because I am ignorant of law 9.0
Because I believe that I could go unpunished even though not
complying with law 7.6
Other 0.4
···
Total (N=242) 100.0
[General Analysis]
Among respondents (N=242) who selected that they did not comply with law, 36.1% selected the option, ‘because they feel disadvantaged when abiding by law’, followed by ‘because complying with law is burdensome and inconvenient’ (23.2%), ‘because other people do not comply with law’ (14.1%), ‘because they expect that, even though they do wrong, others would not notice’ (9.7%), ‘because they are ignorant of law’
(9.0%) and ‘because they believe that they could go unpunished even
though not complying with law’ (7.6%).
Section 3 Legal Life and Changes in Legal Awareness
I Believe That They/
Society 42.5% 18.9% 11.2% 11.0% 7.2% 6.8% 2.0% 0.5%
Individual 36.1% 14.1% 23.2% 7.6% 9.0% 9.7% 0.4% 0.0%
<Figure 26> Grounds For Nor Abiding by Law
Because
Based on a comparative analysis of the grounds for non-compliance with law on the social and individual levels, the most preferred option is
‘because they/I feel disadvantaged when abiding by law. In both cases, which is supported by an overwhelming majority, as illustrated below, whether to abide by law is dependent on subjective interests.
<Table 29> Comparison between Grounds for Non-Compliance with Law on
Social and Individual Levels
Chapter 2 Social Changes and Public Legal Awareness
[Cluster Analysis]
A cluster analysis of responses as to why one does not comply with law reveals that the ratio of respondents who chose ‘because I feel disadvantaged when abiding by law’ is relatively higher in groups in a lower level of subjective stratum identification and with a conservative inclination. This finding reflects that compliance or non-compliance with law is dependent on a subjective test, whether on the individual level or on social level.
<Table 30> Cluster Analysis of Grounds for Non-Compliance with Law on Individual Level
I Believe ThatI could Go
Progressive 63 28.6 18.9 20.6 15.7 8.2 8.0 0.0
Moderate 121 36.8 24.1 15.2 6.7 9.3 7.2 0.7
Conservative 59 42.6 26.1 4.8 9.4 9.3 7.9 0.0
Section 3 Legal Life and Changes in Legal Awareness
Question 6) If you bought a defective or subquality food products, what will you do?
Result %
··· ···
Exchange it to my satisfaction 41.4
Do nothing after purchase 41.2
Report to the consumer complaints center 11.9
Demand reparation 3.8
Other 0.9
Don't know/No opinion 0.7
···
Total (N=3,000) 100.0