Mark Wilding

The importance of feedback: Policy transfer, translation and the role of communication

In recent years, translation has begun to be employed in multidisciplinary policy studies as a more constructivist alternative to the established policy transfer literature. While both transfer and translation acknowledge the complex nature of communication in the adaptation of policies to new contexts, they are yet to investigate the impact of communication types on the modification of policies. This study draws upon public relations theory in order to develop four modes of translation in the transfer of policy. The modes are utilized as a means of illustrating how two-way communication between both borrowers and lenders, and borrowers and policy stakeholders is most likely to increase the chances of policy success. The practicality of the theoretical model is illustrated through examples of congestion charge translation in Stockholm and Greater Manchester.

An exploratory study on the potential of social enterprise to act as the institutional glue of network governance

Abstract This study combines two topics of contemporary salience for public administration: social enterprise and governance networks. While operating at different levels, both are institutions which attempt to draw together the three pillars of state, market, and civil society. Nevertheless, the respective literatures focus on particular aspects of the three pillars. We connect the two concepts and suggest that some social enterprises can act as the institutional glue of networks due to their ability to benefit organizations in each of the three sectors. This requires social enterprises to have the managerial capacity to diffuse social know-how, and is facilitated by the trust of other organizations and a supportive policy framework. The links are explicated at the conceptual level before providing evidence from South Korea and the UK. Finally, research propositions are offered, which suggest new avenues for future research.

Emotional Labor in Korean Local Government: Testing the Consequences of Situational Factors and Emotional Dissonance

ABSTRACT The study of emotional labor in public administration has a strong foundation. Emotional labor scales have been operationalized that measure emotion work, personal efficacy, type of acting, and positive/negative display rules. Less is known about how public employees are affected by the frequency, attentiveness, and variety of emotional display, and by emotional dissonance. A survey of local government employees in South Korea is used to analyze the consequences of these factors for job stress, burnout, and job satisfaction. These factors are found to affect the dependent variables in different ways.

Distorted policy transfer? South Korea’s adaptation of UK social enterprise policy

ABSTRACT This study draws upon communicative processes in policy transfer to consider the ways in which policy may be adapted to context or distorted. The theoretical framework is used to investigate exactly what the South Korean government borrowed from UK social enterprise policy. Despite claims that the UK was the source of both the general policy direction and the particular regulatory device, the Korean government did not learn about the specific contexts of the British policy, nor attempt two-way communication with domestic stakeholders. Rather, the UK policy was interpreted in accordance with the Korean government’s own ideas about how to utilize social enterprise. Historical legacies of top-down decision-making played an important role in this process, as did the state’s role as a regulator which mobilizes the private sector to achieve policy goals. The consequences have been negative for those organizations refused social enterprise status under the Ministry of Labor’s strict approval system, as well as for the original target population: the socially disadvantaged and vulnerable. It is suggested that the model advanced may help to illuminate the reasons why some borrowed policies differ considerably from the originals, and the use of policy transfer as a means of legitimization.

The Politics of Government Reform in Korea From Tripartite to Bipartite Politicization

Government reforms in South Korea, beginning in the 1980s, moved toward deconcentration and deregulation in the 1990s and 2000s. However, the contents of the reforms under the “transformational” presidencies following democratization, which aimed to raise the quality of government and respond to increasing social polarization and political discord, did not significantly reduce state power or depoliticize policy making. Instead, state strength was consolidated through tripartite politicization: the rise of ministers as a third force in policy making vis-à-vis the president and legislature. Under the “post-transformational” presidencies of Lee Myung-Bak and Park Geun-Hye, government reforms can be summarized as bipartite politicization between the president and legislature, as ministerial power has been reduced.

State Political and Economic Capacities and the Quality of Government in Asia

This study analyzes the impacts of state political and economic capacities on the quality of government in 40 Asian countries. Quality of government data for 2002 and 2010 were obtained from four elements of the World Bank Governance Index, and the same or closest years data for political and economic capacity were collected from other well-known indices. The analysis reveals that economic growth influences four elements in both developed and developing countries, although the effects of economic freedom differ between these two groups of states. While political capacity (i.e. civil empowerment, democracy, and press freedom) is found to have an effect on all four of the governance elements in developed countries, it influences just two elements in developing economies. Thus, the results suggest that the quality of government in Asia is not only improved by economic capacity but might also be enhanced by consolidation of democracy, particularly once a certain degree of economic development is achieved.

Determinants of whistleblowing intention : evidence from the South Korean government

ABSTRACT In 2001, the South Korean government passed the Anti-Corruption Act, which provides whistleblower protection in the public sector. The system of protections and rewards was strengthened in 2011 by the Act on the Protection of Public Interest Whistleblowers. Although these laws ensure immunity—and even financial incentives—for whistleblowers, whistleblowing is still not a straightforward task. Based on a survey of 5,706 public officials in central government, this article examines how a range of factors influence whistleblowing intention: attitude, knowledge, colleague support, organizational support, and protection against retaliation. A number of demographic variables relating to gender expression, marital status, length of tenure, duty, and position type are used as controls. The results of the ordered probit regression analysis show that all of the independent variables have a significant positive effect on whistleblowing intention. However, colleague support and organizational support have the biggest effects, while perceived protection against retaliation has the smallest. This suggests that there is a need for future government efforts to build upon the available legal protections by focusing on creating a supportive culture among colleagues and in the organization more generally.