The struggle to end authoritarian rule often marks only the beginning for pro-democracy opposition groups that go on to contest elections in new democracies, which I define as opposition successor parties (OSPs). Some of these parties grow into prominent political actors in the post-authoritarian period, while others quickly fragment or become loosely organized, personalistic vehicles. Despite their widespread presence across young democracies, OSPs remain surprisingly understudied from a comparative perspective. We know little about how they operate and develop after democratization—let alone how many exist. In this project, I present a conceptual and theoretical framework for understanding OSPs as a distinct category of parties—separate from authoritarian successor parties (ASPs), which stem from former ruling parties, and from new parties without pre-transition roots. I show that OSP development depends on both the legacies inherited from authoritarian rule and the nature of the democratic transition itself. Focusing on the Asia-Pacific region, I use a mixed methods approach that combines original party-election-level data, illustrative case studies from five countries, and process tracing of the South Korean case. 

Cheong, Yeilim and Stephan Haggard. 2023. "Political Polarization in Korea." Democratization 30 (7): 1215-1239. 

Cheong, Yeilim and Stephan Haggard. 2024. "Violence and Democracy." Political Science Quarterly 00 (0): 1-17. 

"When State Repression Backfires: The Role of Information and Narratives."

"Exit, Voice, or Loyalty? Economic Opportunity, Escape Viability, and Political Dissent in North Korea." 

"Why Some Opposition Successor Parties Win While Others Falter: Comparative Evidence from the Asia-Pacific.''  

"Struggles that Strengthen: How Opposition Successor Parties Developed in the Shadow of Authoritarian Legacies in South Korea.''

"Democracy and Successor Parties in the Asia-Pacific."

"Valence Scrutiny Gone Wrong? Party Activism and Party Candidate Selection in Polarized Environments."

Cheong, Yeilim and Stephan Haggard. February, 2022. "Polarization in Korea Part I: The Public vs. Partisans." Korea Economic Institute (KEI).

Cheong, Yeilim and Stephan Haggard. March, 2022. "Polarization in Korea Part II: Divided Over What?" Korea Economic Institute (KEI).

Haggard, Stephan and Yeilim Cheong. January 2023. "2022 in Review: Is Korea Becoming More Polarized?'' The Peninsula Blog: Korea Economic Institute (KEI).

Cheong, Yeilim and Stephan Haggard. December 2024. "The Rise and Fall of Yoon Seok-yeol.'' UC IGCC Global Policy At a Glance.