When Conflict Management is Institutionalized -Research Agenda on the Executive Order 19886 in Korea

Abstract

The demand for better conflict management system in public sectors in Korea had grown since early 2000s and culminated in the 2007 enactment of an Executive Order 19886 on Public Dispute Prevention and Resolution. With increasing interests in legislating a new basic Act on public dispute in Korea, rigorous and empirical evaluation of the Executive Order 19886 is necessary. Considering the effectiveness of the Executive Order 19886 in terms of conflict management hinges on two variables: 1) appropriate institutional design, and 2) compliance of government officials and other stakeholders, this article suggests that the institutional design of the Executive Order 19886 might be flawed and might affect the low compliance level of the government officials. This article conducts conceptual analysis on the institutional designs of the three main pillars of the Executive Order 19886: conflict impact assessment, conflict management advisory council and ad-hoc conflict resolution committee. Then, this article provides recommendations for institutional revision of a new Executive Order or a basic Act that may contribute to setting up experimental practices for future empirical studies in an effort to find the best institutional design for conflict management system in Korea.