Open AccessLocal government performance and democratic consolidation: Explaining ordinance proposal in Busan Metropolitan Council
Author(s) -
Lee ByungJae,
Kim Tae Wan,
Suh Jaekwon,
Yap O. Fiona
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
asia and the pacific policy studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.529
H-Index - 14
ISSN - 2050-2680
DOI - 10.1002/app5.319
Subject(s) - legislature , metropolitan area , public administration , politics , dominance (genetics) , local government , democracy , consolidation (business) , political science , democratic consolidation , law , economics , democratization , geography , accounting , biochemistry , chemistry , archaeology , gene
Abstract This article assesses the role of local councils as a conduit for democratic consolidation through the examination of the legislative performance of the members of a South Korean metropolitan city council. We collected data on ordinance proposals in Busan Metropolitan Council from 2006 to 2018 (the 5th to 7th Councils) and analysed, first, the effects of individual attributes of local council members on legislative performance through negative binomial model analysis and, second, the effects of legislative networks on council members' performance. Three findings contribute to the literature: first, the number of proposed ordinances by council members increased over time, while those by the mayor decreased in the same period, suggesting an erosion of executive dominance of policymaking in local councils. Second, female and newly elected council members are most active in legislative proposals, which underlines that these members are more connected to the electorate than long‐serving incumbents. Third, network analyses show increasingly diverse and multi‐centred communities behind ordinance proposals; this suggests a move from personalistic politics to institutionalised politics.