EARS No. 1: An Evaluation of the Roh Moo-hyun Administration's First Year in Office: Public Opinion and Expert Assessment

Overview



This EARS Series 1 addresses "An Evaluation and Outlook of the Roh Moo-hyun Administration's First Year in Office." It is based on the results of a public opinion poll conducted jointly with the JoongAng Ilbo in February, involving 1,006 members of the general public and 252 experts. EARS Series 1 suggests that the Roh Moo-hyun administration, like previous governments, is also following the negative cycle of "from expectation to disappointment." The cause is identified as the unilateral operation of the Roh Moo-hyun administration's coordination mechanism, termed "decentralization" and "distribution of authority." Furthermore, the analysis of the opinion poll indicates that the president's direct intervention in various social conflicts has led to criticism of "code politics," and it warns of a leadership crisis that could result from the erosion of the support base, i.e., the weakening of the political foundation.



However, alternatives exist. EARS Series also presents the discovery of new positive aspects. Establishing an effective state governance system for conflict resolution can be an alternative, and there is a consensus among the general public and experts regarding the future tasks of the Roh Moo-hyun administration. In other words, if social problem awareness is shared in future state governance and a system of government coordination and operation is established accordingly, the remaining term of the Roh Moo-hyun administration can be interpreted as capable of leaving significant achievements.



The EAI Public Opinion Research Center will continue its efforts to deeply diagnose sensitive and critical issues surrounding our society and the Korean Peninsula through public opinion surveys and to propose desirable alternatives through the meticulous research of relevant experts. EARS Series will serve as the platform for disseminating these outcomes.

Authors

Lee Na-young, Professor, Department of Political Science and International Relations, Korea University

Lee Sung-bong, Research Professor, Korea University

Jeong Won-chil, Senior Researcher, EAI