Legislators, Bureaucrats, and Interest Groups in Korea: A Review Essay

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to review existing research on legislative-administrative bureaucratic and legislative-interest group relations from the 1970's until the late 1990's in Korea. From a critical viewpoint, the extant literature on the relationship between legislators and bureaucrats or interest groups in Korea is meager, shallow, and outdated. Korean legislative politics is in the process of transition. Although the inertia of old political practices may be still strong, there also exist increasingly significant undercurrents militating against it. The future direction is toward a stronger legislature in a more competitive regime. The current research practices, however, are not likely to measure up to these possible changes. The existing research lacks the diversity in theoretical perspectives and investigative strategies. The tradition of descriptive-therapeutic studies with rudimentary empirical evidence is deep rooted. There exist only some systematically executed behavioral-empirical studies. In addition, the studies drawing on formal deductive theories are a rare breed. It is imperative that old research practices should be overhauled with the introduction of alternative theoretical perspectives and research strategies. The research needs reorientation and innovation. At this juncture, the field of Korean legislative studies probably stands in need of a Fenno who serves as a bridge connecting detailed descriptive studies to those based on deductive theoretical perspectives.