A study on the process of establishing Corruption Investigation Office For High-ranking
Officials
-Based on Kingdon’s Policy Stream Model
Hwang Hae Hun
Public Adminstration
The Graduate School
Seoul National University
The Act on the Establishment a...
A study on the process of establishing Corruption Investigation Office For High-ranking
Officials
-Based on Kingdon’s Policy Stream Model
Hwang Hae Hun
Public Adminstration
The Graduate School
Seoul National University
The Act on the Establishment and Operation of Corruption Investigation Office For High-ranking Officials was passed by the National Assembly on December 30, 2019. The establishment of the Corruption Investigation Office For High-ranking Officials has been a long-cherished wish of progressive political parties and civic groups since the Kim Dae-jung administration. It was designated as a fast-track agenda item in April 2019, and in December of the same year, the bill was passed despite extreme opposition from the conservative opposition party and the prosecution's vested interests.
The purpose of this study is to examine and understand the policy-making process that led to the establishment of the Corruption Investigation Office For High-ranking Officials by overcoming various difficulties over a long period of time and finally passing the law in December 2019. The scope and target of the study will be discussions on the establishment of Corruption Investigation Office For High-ranking Officials from the Kim Dae-jung administration to the Moon Jae-in administration in 1998. Kingdon's policy stream model is used as an analysis framework to analyze the discussions and decisions leading up to the establishment of the Corruption Investigation Office For High-ranking Officials through the enactment of the law.
The reason for applying Kingdon's policy stream model as an analysis framework is that the enactment of Corruption Investigation Office For High-ranking Officials law and the installation of related-system did not maintain a consistent tone for establishing corruption investigation Office for high-ranking officials. And this policy was not prepared after deliberation without conflicting opinions of policy participants. Kingdon's policy stream model was established based on the trash can model, and appears to be suitable for explaining the establishment process of the Corruption Investigation Office for high-ranking officials, which achieved results amid regime changes and conflicts of political interests. In addition, the general characteristics of Korea's policy-making process were also considered. In other words, this model is more appropriate to explain the policy-making process in Korea, where policy entrepreneur, such as the president with a single five-year term (without two four-year terms), and the prime minister and ministers who are frequently replaced, focus on short-term policy goals and have difficulty in considering long-term policies.
Through this study, the stream of problems, the stream of policy alternatives, and the policy window in the policy-making process were identified, and the policy-making process was examined by government period to see how these combined to open the policy window and produce the resulting policy. At this time, we wanted to identify who the important policy leaders were, what role they played, and what influence they had.
From the inauguration of the Kim Dae-jung administration in 1998 to before the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in administration in 2017, the policy window failed to open because the stream of each necessary element did not go smoothly. In the Moon Jae-in administration, the stream of each element was coupled, opening a policy window for the Corruption Investigation Office For High-ranking Officials Act in the 20th National Assembly. With the support of the President as a policy entrepreneur and the active role of the National Assembly members who proposed the bill, the bill was eventually adopted in 2019.
In addition, this study sought to examine how the factors necessary to open the policy window influenced the next government. In other words, It was examined whether each of the elements necessary to open the policy window - problem stream, policy stream, political stream, and the role of policy entrepreneurs - acted as opportunities or constraints for the next government's policy window to open.
In conclusion, the research results confirmed that the three independent streams were coupled to open a policy window and produce policy output, which was consistent with Kingdon's policy stream model. The political stream that Kingdon considered was the most decisive factor here. It was found that the President and the National Assembly members involved in proposing the bill were policy entrepreneurs and played a leading and active role in ensuring that the policy was introduced throughout the entire policy decision-making process.
This study can have political implications as follows. firstly, in order for going off well in the policy process, the social discussion process, such as discussion and communication between policy participants, and the role of the policy entrepreneurs who will lead it are very important. Because it is difficult to succeed through the government's unilateral implementation alone. In addition, there are still many opposing opinions on the establishment of the Corruption Investigation Office For High-ranking Officials, so continued interest, policy evaluation, and follow-up research on system supplementation are needed in the future. Through this, it will be possible to provide implications for policies or systems that the government plans to introduce in the future.
Keywords : Corruption Investigation Office For High-ranking Officials, Policy Stream Model, Policy Making, Policy Entrepreneur.
Student Number : 2021-2339