The Government and Civil Society Collaboration against COVID-19 in South Korea: A Single or Multiple Actor Play?

Abstract

This study examines, from a collaborative governance perspective, the public policy process of South Korea in responding to the global health pandemic. In many countries, attention has been focused primarily on governmental capacity and political leadership in containing the COVID-19 pandemic. In South Korea, however, the role of civil society as a collaborative partner to government is especially important. To analyze the comprehensive and substantive nature of government-civil society collaboration, this study assesses the response to COVID-19 along two dimensions: the level of civil society involvement in governance, and the stage in public policy development. The study reveals that the South Korean government was a coordinator of multiple actors and multiple sectors of society, including civil society, and that all three facets of civil society as described by Edwards (2004), were involved: associational life, civility, and engagement in the public sphere.

Analyzing the Effect of Social Distancing Policies on Traffic at Sinchon Station, South Korea, during the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 and 2021

“…Also, it could be an effective model for future outbreak of contagious disease without enforcing a strict lockdown related to civil liberties. According to previous studies, the South Korean government should act as a good mediator of multiple sectors of society’s response to COVID-19 outbreak and central and local collaboration is an important element for the successful control of epidemic [ 12 , 60 , 61 ].…”

State and Nonprofit Organizations Relationship Model in South Korea's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…According to Jeong & Kim (2021), the relationship between government and community organizations uses two dimensions, namely community involvement in government and involvement in the public policy process. Involvement in government is seen based on the depth of contribution in cooperation.…”

Managing the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Fragmented Local Government Setting: a Study from Ogan Ilir Regency, Indonesia

“…The COVID-19 pandemic is a new form of challenge for public organizations that has never happened in previous periods (Chatterji, Roy, & Chatterjee, 2021;Grint, 2020;Tung, 2021). Leaders of public organizations are still looking for various written instructions from various reports and opinions from academics (Behrens & Naylor, 2020;Jeong & Kim, 2021;Wilson, 2020). The government then took over this disastrous situation, crossing the boundaries of traditional power and democratic constitutions.…”

“…From these problems, the question arises whether fragmented and decentralized decisionmaking and action have been able to direct public organizational bodies to achieve common goals. This is complicated by confusion for leaders to set priorities for health or saving the economy because the two are both complex and seem to contradict each other (Choi, 2020;Jeong & Kim, 2021). Then, the division of tasks in different levels of authority is time consuming, and resource consuming and therefore, it is difficult to achieve a quick and effective collective response.…”