Same Differences: Comparing Social Service Policy Networks in the US and Korea

Though many polities have adopted collaborative approaches to policy decision processes, few cross-national comparative studies exist. To fill that gap the article presents a comparative study of the US and Korea, posing this question: to what extent are differences in the structure of Korean and US policy networks explained by differences in political-institutional and cultural contexts? A set of propositions regarding this question are generated through the analysis of two policy networks related to public service delivery: (1) an adult basic education (ABE) policy network in a US state, and (2) a transportation policy network in a major South Korean city. The analysis suggests that (1) public policy decision-making in the US and Korea is developing differentiated power and network structures, (2) structural differences may be traced to differences in the constitution of formal authority, and (3) culture seems to play a role in structuring organizational type-based collaborative patterns.