VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE EOM JI YUN PRESENT LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH KOREA: STRUCTURE AND OPERATION MECHANISM MASTER DISSERTATION IN POLITICAL SCIENCE Hà Nội - 2019 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE EOM JI YUN PRESENT LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH KOREA: STRUCTURE AND OPERATION MECHANISM MASTER DISSERTATION IN POLITICAL SCIENCE CODE: 60310201 Supervisor: Associate Professor PhD. Pham Quoc Thanh Hà Nội - 2019 Acknowledgement I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all eminent scholars for their comments on this study, especially Preofessor Pham Quoc Thanh who has been my supervisor and introduced me 3 years ago to the world of Politics in Vietnam. I hope that this study will be more useful tool to understand on Local government of Korea. Graduate student EOM JI YUN Contents INTRODUCTION.
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Objects and scale of the StUdyy. «Sàn HH rrkt -6- 5.- s6 12 HH Tnhh HH Hàn -7- 6. Findings of the dissertation .csesecessesseeccnecneseesseesceecneeneesesseeaenees -7- UY 2000000 000)00ì))(L77%ẦIẠII. SOME THEORETICAL MATTERS ON LOCAL GOVERNMENTAND COMPARATIVETHEORETICAL FRAMEWORK.
Definition on local øOVerI€TIE. Definition on structure of locaÏl goVernmeI( .1 The Chieƒ ExeCutiwe ()[ƒÏC€T- .- - «+ xxx E*xxEskrskrsee -13- II 9. The Staff oƒ Locall ŒOV€THIHHI. Limited Power of The Local GovernmeII.--- s5 -18- LOCAL GOBERNMENT IN COMPARISON.
Local Autonomy LaW.- óc kh HH Hà ng - 23 - 2.2 Local Government Of Vietnin. Generalization on local government structure in Vietnam and Korea. Major similarities ANd CAUSES. Major differences andÏ CAIS€S.3 Local government operation mechanIsm.
Generalization on local government operation mechanism in. Similarities and Causes : Focus on Local Councils, Local Government Representative and Citizen Participation. Differences and Causes : Focus on Local Councils, Local Government Representative and Citizen Participdtion. List of Abbreviations PAR Public Administrative Reform OSS One-Stop-Shop GRD Grass-Roots Democracy GRDO Upgraded Version of GRD in ordinance in 2007 by the Decree No.
PIB The People's Inspection Board CISB Community Investment Supervision Board INTRODUCTION 1. Reasons for this study It can be said that certain democracy is established through the effectively completed decentralization of power, not just formal meanings. In terms of this view, the government of Korea is still trying to reach to this completion. The Korea achieved totally democratic form of local government system caused by vote of both the local government head and members of local council in the year 1995.
The form of local government system means that local government has certain freedom with decentralization of authority from the central government and can be means of acquisition for a real democracy as local people are attended. Local government is usually authorized for itself to achieve legally both local system and residential self-government. According to the Local Government Act in Korea, the local government has very important responsibilities which are trying to improve local people‘‘s convenience and benefit in public and to rationalize its organization and operating. Especially the local council represents local people including people“'s thinking and play a role as supervisor to monitor whether the policy from local government head is right.
To these acts, the local council has variety powers legally such as voting right, empowerment for the local council, administration inspection and right to investigate for government. Moreover the role of local council's monitoring has more significant position. Overview of studies involved I was looking for references especially on structure and operation mechanism of Vietnamese then I came across to “Joint Donor Report to the Vietnam Consultative Group Meeting on Modern Institutions”. That is not internal report of Vietnam that is why it could let me have a disinterested attitude on doing study.
This reference showed that what they have core object for local people in local governing closed more to the people and what they have weakness point on a position related to their central government, especially it captured downward accountability trend from central to provincial units in terms of administration and financial support, and how this trend meet obstacle with efficiency and transparency including basic solution plan that I can refer. With “Final Constitution of the Republic of Vietnam Adopted by the National Assembly”, I went through about what major component of that is different from Korea based on Constitution for operation and composition in local government of Vietnam. The relation of between people's council and people's committee has clear distinction from Korea's one. Moreover in terms of representative principle coming from the citizens, it would show a little ambiguity that local election of Vietnam cannot reflect totally in particular.
While studying on innovation of local government of Korea, I referred “Korean Government Innovation: Strategies and Methodologies for Administrative Innovation.” It was about analysis for improved government reform that for example, participation of citizen have increased sharply in all areas of local politics and affect straightly with a variety of voice from citizen. Accordingly, this reference suggested that which measurement can accommodate these demands and give a proper way. -5- The crucial matters this study showed were related to connection between local and central governments. That was of course based on hierarchy structure under central unit's control.
Thus I have considered how this relation can be restructured and in light of this I brought the report called “Report of the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy” into this study. This report was to give an overview of positive interaction between local and central authorities and regional authorities in States were regional authorities have legislative powers affection local government. These relationships will allow the identification of good practices and show which actors participate in exchanges further future. Purposes and tasks of the study 3.
Study purposes Pointing out major features of the structure and operation mechanism of present local government in South Korea with its Vietnam 3. Tasks - Defining some important concepts. - Structured the system of present local government in South Korea. - Model the operation mechanism of present local government in South Korea.
- Clarifying pros and cons of present local government in South Korea. Objects and scale of the study 4. Study objects Structure and operation mechanism of present local government in South Korea 4. Scale of the study - Scale of time: 01.
2018 - Scale of space: local areas of South Korea and Vietnam - Scale of contents: structure, operation mechanism and _ their attached strengths and weaknesses 5. Study methods - Approach of political study -Quantitative and Qualitative methods; logical-historical method; comparative method; etc. Findings of the dissertation - Interpreting some thesis-related theoretical issues. - Structured the system of present local government in South Korea and model the operation mechanism of present local government in South Korea.
- Explaining some positive and negative characteristics of present local government in South Korea. - Giving some practical recommendations. Dissertation structure The study includes 4 parts, namely Introduction, Content, Conclusions, References. The Content comprises 2 chapters: CHAPTER 1.
SOME THEORETICAL MATTERS ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND COMPARATIVE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 1. Definition on local government As a first step, we need to define the key concepts being employed here. The term ,region" is used in the literature in diverse ways. Regions can be analyzed in economic, political or historical terms; or they can be established physically according to natural factors like mountains and rivers or artificially by government.
John Glasson suggests that the concept of a region has evolved through two distinct phases reflecting economic advance [7, pp. Magnus Jerneck classifies regions into micro-regions and macro- or world ones that comprise the totality of several neighboring countries [12, p. Blair divides regions into three large groups: functional regions, distinguished by the degree of economic integration ; homogeneous regions, based on internal similarity, and administrative regions, formed for managerial or organizational purposes [13, p. In this research region implies mainly the last of Blair's classification and, in the Korean context, regional’ refers to provincial’ with the administrative body (the province) equivalent to a region in many respects.
However, the term region is used in macro- or multi-national as well as sub-national contexts since causes of richness or poverty, and their prescriptions are likewise applicable to both scales of region [13, p35]. »Regional policy" is tied up, by its nature, with the functions of national government rather than those of sub-national government such as regional (provincial in Korea) and lower tiers of local authorities for its -8- primary objective is to mediate economic imbalance between regions. It is thought that regional policy is seen as a means of redistribution and central government intervention to cure what some see as market failure but can also be physical or natural disadvantage. The existence of local government has always been defended on the basis that it is a crucial aspect of the process of democratization and intensification of mass participation in the decision-making process.
No political system is considered complete and democratic if it does not have a system of local government. Local government serves a two-fold purpose. The first purpose is the administrative purpose of supplying goods and services; the other purpose is to represent and involve citizens in determining specific local public needs and how these local needs can be met. Local representative government is a process that spans and connects representation and administration at local levels within local government structures.
In order to understand the function and structure of local government, it is important to define local government and understand the meaning of local government democracy and values. Local government is a product of devolution as a dimension of decentralization. Olowu remarks: There are two approaches to the definition of local government in the literature. One approach, which is usually adopted in comparative studies, is to regard all such national structures below the central government as local government.
A second approach is more circumspect in that local governments are identified by certain defining characteristics. These characteristics usually focus on the following five attributes: legal personality, specified powers to perform a range of functions, substantial -9- budgetary and staffing autonomy subject to limited central control, effective citizen participation and localness. These are regarded as essential to distinguish it from all other forms of local institutions and also ensure its organizational effectiveness. These so-called essential features of local government are misleading.
Not all local governments provide an opportunity for effective citizen participation. There are various issues to be considered. A number of questions arise. How is effective citizen participation determined? Is it determined electoral participation? With these issues in mind it appears that the same problems afflict identifying legal personality as a feature of local government, for legal personality is not a monopoly of local government.
Robson defines local government from a legal point of view as follows; In general, local government may be said to involve the conception of territorial, non-sovereign community possessing the legal right and the necessary organization to regulate its own affairs. Gomme defines local government in the following manner: Local government is part of the whole government of a nation or state which is administered by authorities subordinate to the state authority, but elected independently of control by the state authority, by qualified persons resident, or having property in certain localities, which localities have been formed by communities having common interests and common history. Both Robson and Gomme seem to emphasize independence while local governments are actually not independent of central government control. Local governments enjoy only relative autonomy, due to the division of responsibilities for services between national and local government.
It should be noted that the division of responsibilities is a political or policy issue.