Overview
South Korea is renowned as one of the success stories of fast economic development. The Korean developmental state was a highly efficient, meritocratic, and fully monopolized coercive force. These resources were skilfully leveraged to shape the direction of private sector actors towards strategic initiatives. However, these very same resources could have resulted in the bureaucracy retaining its power indefinitely. Instead, step-by-step, the resources of the bureaucracy, which serviced the authoritarian leadership in the developmental period, were exercised towards democratization. What were the conditions that made this transformation possible? The Experience of Democracy and Bureaucracy in South Korea addresses this question, filling the existing gap in the academic literature and presenting political implications. It explores the ways in which bureaucracy may not only be compatible with democracy but, more ambitiously, the conditions under which it can enhance it. The chapters examine the unique systems and institutions of the Korean bureaucracy including the National Election Commission, the police force, local government, the ceiling recruitment strategy, and procurement policy. This timely collection will be of interest to researchers, graduate and undergraduate students in public administration and policy. It will also be a useful reference for bureaucrats in developing countries who seek to design policy for bureaucracy in concurrence with democratization.
Full Product Details
Author: Tobin Im (Seoul National University, South Korea) ,
Evan Berman (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand)
Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
Imprint: Emerald Publishing Limited
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.80cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.446kg
ISBN: 9781838679262
ISBN 10: 183867926
Pages: 296
Publication Date: 04 November 2019
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.
Reviews
Korean scholars of public administration and civic education seek definitions and examples of good public administration. Among their topics are revisiting bureaucratic dysfunction: the role of bureaucracy in democratization, rediscovering Korea's local bureaucracy: the unsung players in the nation's democratization process, the supreme audit institution and democracy: the function of the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea for democratization, public procurement policy in South Korea: approaches to sustainable development and anti-corruption, and the ceiling strategy as policy: limited bureaucratic expansion and democratization. -- Annotation (c)2017 * (protoview.com) *
Author Information
Tobin Im is a Professor of Public Administration at Seoul National University and Director of the Centre for Government Competitiveness, South Korea. Tobin was awarded a Ph.D. in Organizational Sociology from L’Institute d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, he has written numerous articles in world class academic journals and has published many books in Korea, France, Holland, Russia and India. His research and teaching areas of interest include Organizational Theory, Performance Management, and Comparative Administration.
