Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:27:52.906Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Slowing at Sunset: Administrative Procedures and the Pace of Reform in Korea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2016

Jeeyang Rhee Baum  and
Kathleen Bawn
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Overhaul of administrative procedures is an important part of most democratic transitions, and procedural regularization and transparency are often seen as steps toward the consolidation of democracy. Administrative procedures affect policy decisions, but whether particular procedural reforms facilitate or hinder democratic responsiveness depends on the details of the procedure and the political environment. In this article, we examine a particular procedural reform: the adoption of a sunset provision in Korea as part of an omnibus administrative procedures package at the end of Kim Young Sam's presidency. A sunset provision might be seen as clearly promoting democratic responsiveness by requiring the winner of the most recent election to explicitly decide whether to keep or drop old rules and regulations. Alternatively, it might be seen as limiting a democratically elected leader's ability to change policy in accordance with his mandate, by requiring expenditure of effort and resources just to maintain a status quo. We argue that the second interpretation applies to the Korean case. We use a spatial model and evidence from regulatory decisionmaking to argue that Kim Young Sam favored the sunset provision because it would constrain the policy decisions of future presidents. Our model offers an explanation for why Kim Young Sam would propose a sunset provision that limited the life of his own regulations.

Keywords

administrative proceduressunset lawKorean politicsdemocratizationbureaucratic reform
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of East Asian Studies , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , August 2011 , pp. 197 - 222
Copyright
Copyright © East Asia Institute 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amsden, Alice. 1989. Asia's Next Giant: South Korea and Late Industrialization. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Baum, Jeeyang Rhee. 2005. “Breaking Authoritarian Bonds: The Political Origins of Taiwan's Administrative Procedure Act.” Journal of East Asian Studies 5, 3: 365–399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baum, Jeeyang Rhee. 2007. “Presidents Have Problems Too: The Logic of Intra-branch Delegation in East Asian Democracies.” British Journal of Political Science 37, 4: 659–684.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baum, Jeeyang Rhee. 2011. Responsive Democracy: Increasing State Accountability in East Asia. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chun, Young-jae. 1998. “Regulatory Reform and Privatization of State-owned Companies.” Samsung Economic Research Institute 69.Google Scholar
de Figueiredo, Rui, Spiller, Pablo, and Urbiztondo, Santiago. 1999. “An Informational Perspective on Administrative Procedures.” Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 15, 11: 283–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diamond, Larry, and Shin, Do Chull. 1999. “Introduction.” In Institutional Reform and Democratic Consolidation in Korea , ed. Diamond, Larry and Shin, Do Chull, 1–42. Stanford: Hoover Institution Press.Google Scholar
Haggard, Stephan. 1990. Pathways from the Periphery: The Politics of Growth in the Newly Industrializing Countries. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Haggard, Stephan, and Kaufman, Robert. 1995. The Political Economy of Democratic Transitions. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Kim, Boen-Oong, and Oh, Young-Suk. 1997. Environmental Administrative Law and Procedures. Seoul: Daeyoung Press.Google Scholar
Kim, Young Cheol. 2002. “The Politics of Labor Reform Under the Kim Dae-jung Government.” In Korea in Transition: Three Years Under Kim Dae-jung Government , ed. Moon, Chung-In and Steinberg, David I., 159–177. Seoul: Yonsei University Press.Google Scholar
Koh, B. C. 1997. “South Korea in 1996: Internal Strains and External Challenges.” Asian Survey 37, 1: 1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Korea, Republic of. 1999. Report on Regulation Reform in 1998 for Environment. Seoul: Ministry of Environment.Google Scholar
Lee, Ju-sun, and Han, Sun-ok, eds. 1999. Kim Young-sam Jeongbueui Gyujae Wanhwa Shiljuk Pyungga. Seoul: Korea Economic Research Institute.Google Scholar
McCubbins, Mathew. 1985. “Legislative Design of Regulatory Structure.” American Journal of Political Science 29: 721–748.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCubbins, Mathew, Noll, Roger, and Weingast, Barry. 1987. “Administrative Procedures as Instruments of Political Control.” Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 3: 243–277.Google Scholar
McCubbins, Mathew, Noll, Roger, and Weingast, Barry. 1989. “Structure and Process; Politics and Policy: Administrative Arrangements and the Political Control of Agencies.” Virginia Law Review 75, 2: 431–482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCubbins, Mathew, and Schwartz, Thomas. 1984. “Congressional Oversight Overlooked: Police Patrols Versus Fire Alarms.” American Journal of Political Science 28: 167–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moe, Terry. 1989. “The Politics of Bureaucratic Structure.” In Can the Government Govern? ed. Chubb, John and Peterson, Paul. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Moon, Chung-In, and Yang, Jae-Jin. 2002. “The Kim Dae-jung Government and the Productive Welfare Initiative: Ideals and Reality.” In Korea in Transition: Three Years Under Kim Dae-jung Government , ed. Moon, Chung-In and Steinberg, David I., 118–205. Seoul: Yonsei University Press.Google Scholar
Paik, Young-Chul. 1994. “Political Reform and Democratic Consolidation.” Korea and World Affairs 18: 730–748.Google Scholar
Park, Tong Whan. 1998. “South Korea in 1997: Clearing the Last Hurdle to Political-Economic Maturation.” Asian Survey 38, 1: 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Regulatory Reform Committee. 2004. “History: Development of the Regulatory Reform Committee.” Regulatory Reform Committee. Available at http://www.rrc.go.kr (accessed July 2005).Google Scholar
Romer, Thomas, and Rosenthal, Howard. 1978. “Political Resource Allocation, Controlled Agendas, and the Status Quo.” Public Choice 33: 27–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shepsle, Kenneth. 1979. “Institutional Arrangements and Equilibrium and Multidimensional Voting Models.” American Journal of Political Science 23: 27–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shepsle, Kenneth, and Weingast, Barry. 1981. “Structure-induced Equilibrium and Legislative Choice.” Public Choice 37: 503–519.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Song, Yu-Chul. 2004. “Regulatory Reform and Governance.” Korea Institute for Public Administration Journal 2. Available at www.kipa.re.kr/wwwroot1/ex2/intro1/page16-4.asp.Google Scholar
Wade, Robert. 1990. Governing the Market: Economic Theory and the Role of Government in East Asian Industrialization. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar