Administrative Changes and Elite Dynamics - The changes of the Patterns of Elite Mobilization and Integration in Korea

Abstract

One of the dominant characteristics of the contemporary world is rapid social change: changes in value orientation of the population, explosion of knowledge, galloping technology, environmental turbulences, expansion of international interaction, etc. In a modern society, problems arising out of rapid social change are coped with not only through policies adopted by the government but also through actions taken by private institutions. Butin developing countries, such problems are primarily the burden of the government. Therefore, how to increase the adaptation capacity of the government-that is, the problem-solving capacity of the government-is the most fundamental problem confronting developing countries. In order for a government to meet these problems, it must expand its capacity for policy making and its ability to implement these policies, as well as making administrative structural-functional changes. That is, the government should recruit new elites armed with new perspectives and knowledge who are oriented toward development and who are capable in problem solving. Although the recruitment of new elites into governmental organizations in order to increase their adaptive capacities, this recruitment is not easy: not only is the resistance of the bureaucrats strong, but it is also difficult to identify development-oriented elites. The pattern of interaction, and the mode of conflict between elite groups both inside and outside governmental organizations differ in their situations, and from country to country.