The Good Governance Guide 2021 : Autonomy & Decentralization
Source : Ministry of the Interior and Safety
Promote autonomy and decentralization with local residents Based on
cooperation between Central and local governments
The concept of autonomy and decentralization refers to the act of reasonably allocating the rights and responsibilities of central and local governments to create balance between the two based on cooperation. It also involves increasing direct participation of local residents in the process of making and enforcing the relevant local government's policies.
As the year 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the revival of local autonomy, the Korean government has taken its first step to bring significant changes that will make lasting imp「essions in the history of decentralization. The government has established a cornerstone to promote decentralization by carrying out systematic efforts, such as revising the whole Local Autonomy Act, executing the autonomous police system and enacting the Comp「ehensive Local Transfer Act. The second era of autonomy and decentralization, which will be built on these efforts, will serve as a crucial policy tool to mitigate the adverse effects of centralization, including the growing imbalance between the capital and regional areas and the central government-focused public services and seek new measures to resolve such issues. The most crucial aspect of this drive will lie in the actualization of local residents' sove「eignty, in letting the residents be the ones in charge of changing their lives
Local problem-solving platform Led by local residents: Building a cooperation system to resolve local problems
The local problem-solving platform is envisioned as a cooperation system where local residents themselves identify issues arising from their local community, which will then be resolved through cooperation with the central and local governments and public institutions. In other words, it will be a departure from the existing approach where the problems are solved mainly by the central government; in the new system, local residents themselves will discover local issues and attempt to solve them in cooperation with the government, public institutions, experts, universities and autonomous entities. At present, a total of eight local problem-solving platforms a『e operational in the cities and provinces of South Korea, including the first six that were established in 2019 in Gwangju, Chungcheongbuk-do, Daejeon, Gyeongsangnam-do, Daegu and Gangwon and two more that were built in Jeollanam-do and Chungcheognam-do in 2020. The number of participating institutions also increased from 272 in 2019 to 475 in 2020.
The local problem-solving platform first identifies various local issues by on- and offline efforts and then address the selected agenda items through cooperation among local residents, experts, local governments and public institutions to provide consulting and support for technology and budget. A total of 72 agenda items were tackled in 2019 and 122 items in 2020.
ㆍRegions and Institutions that are home to local problem-solving platforms
The concept of autonomy and decentralization refers to the act of reasonably allocating the rights and responsibilities of central and local governments to create balance between the two based on cooperation. It also involves increasing direct participation of local residents in the process of making and enforcing the relevant local government's policies.
As the year 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the revival of local autonomy, the Korean government has taken its first step to bring significant changes that will make lasting imp「essions in the history of decentralization. The government has established a cornerstone to promote decentralization by carrying out systematic efforts, such as revising the whole Local Autonomy Act, executing the autonomous police system and enacting the Comp「ehensive Local Transfer Act. The second era of autonomy and decentralization, which will be built on these efforts, will serve as a crucial policy tool to mitigate the adverse effects of centralization, including the growing imbalance between the capital and regional areas and the central government-focused public services and seek new measures to resolve such issues. The most crucial aspect of this drive will lie in the actualization of local residents' sove「eignty, in letting the residents be the ones in charge of changing their lives
Local problem-solving platform Led by local residents: Building a cooperation system to resolve local problems
The local problem-solving platform is envisioned as a cooperation system where local residents themselves identify issues arising from their local community, which will then be resolved through cooperation with the central and local governments and public institutions. In other words, it will be a departure from the existing approach where the problems are solved mainly by the central government; in the new system, local residents themselves will discover local issues and attempt to solve them in cooperation with the government, public institutions, experts, universities and autonomous entities. At present, a total of eight local problem-solving platforms a『e operational in the cities and provinces of South Korea, including the first six that were established in 2019 in Gwangju, Chungcheongbuk-do, Daejeon, Gyeongsangnam-do, Daegu and Gangwon and two more that were built in Jeollanam-do and Chungcheognam-do in 2020. The number of participating institutions also increased from 272 in 2019 to 475 in 2020.
The local problem-solving platform first identifies various local issues by on- and offline efforts and then address the selected agenda items through cooperation among local residents, experts, local governments and public institutions to provide consulting and support for technology and budget. A total of 72 agenda items were tackled in 2019 and 122 items in 2020.
ㆍRegions and Institutions that are home to local problem-solving platforms