Browsing by Author "Park, Sanghee"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    A representative-represented matrix: exploring the symbolic effect of minority representation
    (Taylor & Francis, 2024) Park, Sanghee
    This study explores how symbolic representation varies by citizens’ demographic identities and bureaucracies’ demographic composition. First, it presents a representative-represented matrix to provide a conceptual framework from the citizens’ perspective. Then, this is followed by the application to the area of policing in the experimental setting. Citizen perceptions are explored in terms of minority bureaucrats’ representative role and the potential benefits of a representative bureaucracy. The empirical evidence demonstrates that the symbolic effect of minority representation varies and may not accomplish expected outcomes for all minorities. The symbolic representation may be manifested for women and minorities but limited for White men.
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    Intergovernmental Representation at Different Levels of Government: The Effect of Gender Representation
    (Wiley, 2022) Park, Sanghee; Charles Mwihambi, Yesse
    This study examines whether and where bureaucratic representation occurs within the bureaucratic hierarchy and how intergovernmental representation contributes to government efforts to reduce social disparities and improve gender-related outcomes. The context is the national/central, ministerial, and regional governments of the United Republic of Tanzania for 14 years (2006–2019). The findings reveal that gender representation at the upper level of government plays a primary role in reducing poverty, but its impact on women's socioeconomic status, i.e., women's education and unemployment rate, is limited within the study context. The findings also highlight that the existence and the impact of intergovernmental representation depend on the primary missions of the government at different levels, policy outcomes of interest, and social contexts where identities are constructed and interpreted. This study claims that the potential interdependence of bureaucratic representation across multiple government agencies and institutions deserves more attention in the representative bureaucracy scholarship.
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    Local revenue structure under economic hardship: reliance on alternative revenue sources in California counties
    (Taylor & Francis, 2017) Park, Sanghee
    This article investigates how a worsening economy affects local revenue structure, and whether the impact is moderated by the fiscal relationship within higher levels of government. The revenue potential of nontax sources – fees/charges and fines/forfeitures – is considerable for local governments under economic hardship. With the panel data from California counties over a period of 11 years (2000–2010), this article shows that reliance on nontax revenue largely depends on the economic and fiscal factors that vary across counties, and the effect of economy is contingent on local dependence on intergovernmental transfers. Counties are likely to raise nontax revenue when the economy worsens and their transfer-dependence increases, while the marginal effect of the economic indicators changes from negative to positive as transfer dependence increases. This article illuminates the characteristics of the two types of nontax sources in terms of the mechanisms of incentivising human behaviour and concludes with policy implications for researchers and practitioners.
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    Politics or Bureaucratic Failures? Understanding the Dynamics of Policy Failures in Democratic Governance
    (Wiley, 2021) Park, Sanghee
    This study seeks to advance our understanding of policy failures as the nexus of politics and bureaucratic failure. In doing so, it presents a typology to illustrate different types of policy failures by the degree of bureaucratic capacities and politics/political incentives involved in a policy problem, and explores two cases of such failures in South Korea. This study claims that policy failures are joint products of political and bureaucratic failures to varying degrees and that the discussion of both sides helps to enhance accountability and avoid political blame games and bureau-bashing. This study reflects on two Korean cases to demonstrate politically-driven and administratively-driven failures in the high- and low-capacity bureaucracy and their consequences. These cases also reveal the dynamic nature of policy failures moving from one category to another during the policy processes. The first case concerns the failure in emergency response of the Korea Coast Guard (KCG) during and after the sinking of the ferry MV Sewol. A low bureaucratic capacity and lack of motivation to fulfill their function may be the direct cause of the failure, which will be the focus of the discussion of bureaucratic failure. Yet, it also reveals aspects of political failures before and after the accident, where politicians have failed to provide a bureaucratic agency with autonomy and stacked the deck against a less salient agency for political or electoral gains. The second case discusses the politics of preliminary feasibility studies (PFS) required for major public projects. This case explores policy failures uniquely manifested in a highly capable bureaucracy, which shows how politics-laden issues plant the seeds of policy failures driven by the prompt implementation of flawed decisions. The discussion section further discusses key arguments and implications drawn from the case studies. The final section offers concluding thoughts and avenues for future research.
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    The Influence of Executive Selection Factors on the Performance of Public Sector Organizations in Korea
    (Taylor & Francis, 2014) Park, Sanghee; Cho, Yoon Jik
    This research explores the determinants of organizational performance, focusing on executive selection factors. Despite the growth of public sector organizations in various policy fields, there have been few empirical studies of the relationship between executive selection and performance. Using the panel data from 1999 to 2007 of 13 quasi-governmental Korean organizations classified as government corporations, this research examines how politicization of boards, chief executive succession, and insider/outsider origin of chief executives affect organizational performance as measured by two indicators, the Performance Evaluation Index (PEI) and the Consumer Satisfaction Index (CSI). The results demonstrate that board politicization and chief executive succession have a significantly positive effect on the PEI, whereas the CSI is largely determined by contextual factors, such as presidential change and unemployment rate. Financial support from the government shows consistent influence on both performance indicators.
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    When Push Comes to Shove: The Effect of Economic Crisis on the Spending of Government Savings
    (Taylor & Francis, 2022) Kim, Cheong; Park, Sanghee
    This study explores whether and how an economic crisis affects the spending of government savings by focusing on its political-economic benefit. Despite a great deal of discussion about the government’s tendency toward more spending, relatively few studies have attempted to identify the conditions that can reverse the tendency. Using data from 254 California cities during 1996–2009, this study finds a regular U-shape relationship between unemployment rates and government savings. Savings decrease until the unemployment rate reaches almost double digits (9.9%) and begin to recover after this point. The results suggest that an economic crisis curbs the spending tendency by modifying the incentives of legislators. This study contributes to public administration research by explaining local government savings and its delayed responses to a crisis from a political-economic perspective.