지방자치단체의 국정참여제도에 대한 현황 및 제언 - 정부 정책에 대한 지방자치단체의 참여 방안을 중심으로 - = Current Status and Suggestions for Local Governments’ Participation System in National Policy- Focusing on Local Governments’ Participation in Government Policies -

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Local autonomy involves the vertical decentralization of administrative authority between the central government and local governments, allowing for self-governance at regional levels. The ideology of local autonomy inherently includes decentralization. Within a decentralized power structure, the central government engages with local governments, and local governments actively participate in the national policy-making process. This mutual system of checks and balances between the state and local governments allows for the integration and harmonization of national interests with local diversity and specificity, thereby promoting efficient national administration.
With the growing need for local governments to participate in national governance and the promotion of decentralization and local autonomy policies that have been pursued over the years, the perception of local governments as partners in national governance has been strengthened. Since the implementation of the National and Local Government Cooperation Council in 2022, the status of local governments has been significantly elevated compared to the past. In this era, local governments and central ministries must cooperate equally in both national and local policies.
Various individual laws now provide mechanisms for local governments to participate in national policy processes. Regarding their involvement in the policy-making process within the executive branch, there are multiple avenues for participation, including the National and Local Government Cooperation Council, the Central Administrative Agency-Local Government Policy Council, the Administrative Coordination Committee, as well as proposals to the government, pre-consultations on autonomy and decentralization under the Local Autonomy Act, and participation in the formulation of various plans under individual laws.
However, most of these systems do not legally bind the heads of central administrative agencies to the opinions submitted by local governments, nor do they provide enforceable means for implementing the deliberations and recommendations of meetings. They only prescribe a general obligation for active cooperation. In other words, these mechanisms for local government participation in national governance remain at the level of merely gathering opinions.
To address the various issues with these systems, the following improvements are proposed. First, the procedures for submitting agendas to the National and Local Government Cooperation Council should be revised, and criteria for agenda submission should be established. Second, the number of local government-recommended members in government committees should be increased and specified in legislation. Third, deadlines for implementing the results of deliberations from the National and Local Government Cooperation Council, responding to government policy proposals, and handling submitted opinions should be clearly defined. Fourth, the parties involved in the pre-consultation system for autonomy and decentralization should be changed from the heads of central administrative agencies and the Minister of the Interior and Safety to the heads of central administrative agencies and local governments.
In conclusion, only when these mechanisms for Local Governments’ Participation System in National Policy are supplemented and improved to become effective systems will they function properly as means for realizing decentralization and local autonomy.

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