Extract

In this essay, the author illuminates the efforts of South Korean civil society organizations to establish various think tanks after democratization. It is explained as a way to go beyond the role of previous organizations that “only” provided critical surveillance, to develop policy alternatives and to participate in policy building processes. The study focuses on examining how the citizens’ movement deals with dual de-institutionalization pressure, that which comes from both the top by the government and from the bottom by the citizens.

The purpose and action of Korean citizens’ movement have been deeply related to “institutionalization” for about 20 years since 1987. There have been serious conflicts about the details, speed, and direction of democratization in Korea and in many cases, the conflicts have changed into “institutional reform.” Sometimes, “the institutional reform from the above” led by the president, the government and the ruling party has been overwhelming. On the other hand, there was a strong desire for the institutional reform which became the core of social movement (Hong 2007). In this process, the citizens’ movement was bureaucratized and specialized to be accepted as a part of the social institution. Diverse methods of the citizens’ movement have become more moderate and common and have been incorporated into a part of the usual political process. In their book, Meyer and Tarrow say that the social movement existed in contemporary life and that the movement became a daily occurrence by being included in the institutional and political sector...