This study investigates the agenda setting process of an enfranchisement policy for overseas Koreans. This thesis is examined for these reasons: 1) Despite the recent increase of the agenda setting cases, no research on this subject has been done. 2) ...
This study investigates the agenda setting process of an enfranchisement policy for overseas Koreans. This thesis is examined for these reasons: 1) Despite the recent increase of the agenda setting cases, no research on this subject has been done. 2) Its process cannot be explained by the generalized agenda setting process theory. Because the policy agenda determined by the judicial judgment has a constitutional effect of sentence, this agenda has to be shaped as a policy. Hence this is called ‘a pressed policy agenda.’ Therefore this study is assumed to be a new theoretical model to determine the process of this agenda setting process. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to ascertain new theoretical model by finding out the differences between the following two facts of "the agenda setting process of an enfranchisement policy for overseas Koreans": the reason for being a pressed agenda policy, and the reason for being not able to be shaped through a generalized agenda setting process. For this research, several essential prerequisites were verified: leaders of this policy and their policy types, characteristics of this policy, and most influential elements in promoting this policy. The examination and analysis of this theory are in substance as follows. First of all, this policy, which was initiated by the overseas Koreans at first, belongs to ‘outside initiative model.’ Comparably the policy initiated by government (e.g. the Korean National Election Commission) is a policy type that belongs to ‘inside access model.’ Secondly, the fact that this policy does not grant overseas Koreans a franchise, which is one of basic constitutional rights, suggests this policy to be a sort of a social discriminative policy. Thus, this policy has a characteristic of ‘majority politics type’ according to the regulatory politics theory. Thirdly, one of the most remarkable methods that are used to promote this policy as a triggering device is to submit the constitutional petition. The two methods are used for this analysis: the literature study on the theoretical background of the agenda setting process as well as the policy analysis; the case study on the policy-making process. Within the framework of this analysis through the consideration of the theory, the agenda setting process is examined. The conclusion is drawn after researching this subject using the qualitative and descriptive method. This analysis of the agenda setting process of enfranchisement for overseas Koreans focuses on the three contents above, and thus this study has the implications as the followings. Firstly, this policy is a new theory model of "pressed outside initiative model," which is different from the outside initiative model in general. Its basis is that the outside initiative model in general goes through all the steps of the agenda setting process. In comparison, the pressed outside initiative model makes such social problem—which does not become a controversial issue nor a public agenda due to the characteristics of this policy—to become an oppressed governmental agenda. Secondly, the policy agenda of the inside access model that has been promoted constantly by the government has a possibility to be a pseudo agenda. Thirdly, it is essential that distinctive characters of this policy are considered first if one desires to set one social problem as a policy agenda. Lastly, the environmental factor of the policy is the most important variable for the pressed outside initiative model policies. Through the analysis, this research verifies that the policy initiated by the overseas Koreans is a pressed policy agenda, and that inside access model initiated by administration could be a pseudo agenda. Moreover, this study draws a conclusion that the characteristics and the circumstances of the policy are the most important variable in the agenda setting process for this policy type—the pressed outside initiative model policy. However, this study is just one of the case studies, so thus there is a limitation to argue that this study is a generalized theory. Therefore, it is possible that this theory becomes generalized as it continues to be studied.