Bureaucratic Power and the NPM Reforms in Korea

Abstract

This study aims to explain the limited applicability of the New Public Management Reforms (NPM) in the Korean public sector. The paper elaborates and contrasts two opposing models of public management, which are designated the Jupiter and Hercules models. The paper will show that the NPM reforms are based upon the Herculean model, whereas existing Korean public administration, with its strong statist tradition, operates on the Jupiter model. This mismatch of models has brought about paradoxical effects in Korean public administration, which are the results of a wrong prescription. The fundamental reason why the NPM reform cannot succeed lies in the bureaucratic power and dual structure of operation. This paper proposes that a post-NPM model for Asian countries should instead start out from their own, distinct definitions of problem areas and develop solutions that better fit the particular circumstances of the concerned Asian societies.