Ⅰ. The Purpose of the Study
The policy fiasco in location of radioactive waste facilities due to massive opposition from neighboring residents for the past two decades had dramatically turned to the eclat by active invitation competition in 2005. T...
Ⅰ. The Purpose of the Study
The policy fiasco in location of radioactive waste facilities due to massive opposition from neighboring residents for the past two decades had dramatically turned to the eclat by active invitation competition in 2005. The government had mobilized various means (i.e., the increase of economic incentives, the enhancement of procedural democracy, public relations for safety of radioactive waste disposal facilities, and large-scale policy modification by changing related government agencies) to reduce residents' antipathy through correcting policy errors. Unfortunately, these governmental endeavors were not sublimed to the improvement of policy acceptance of the public. Rather, more enthusiastic and violent resistance to nuclear facilities in Ahnmyondo, Gulupdo, and Buahn seemed to make it impossible to get nuclear policy acceptability.
However, the location decision in 2005 had showed pro-nuclear facilities activism. Considering the fact that there was a civil anti-nuclear violent upheaval in Buahn just a year ago, it can be said that policy acceptance for nuclear facilities was surprisingly raised. Despite the lack of visible policy transformation such as the increase of economic incentives and the change of agencies in charge of nuclear policies, residents' responses in 2005 showed attitudes wholly different from those in 2004. This dissertation focuses on such rapid change of location policy acceptance. As a theoretical framework to analyze facets of that change, the Catastrophe Theory that emphasizes both artificial input elements from timely flows and interaction among situational conditions is applied to the case of location policy of radioactive waste disposal facilities. Moreover, the discussion based upon this theory indicates problems inherited in variables and analytic methodologies to which prior studies paid a great attention.
Ⅱ. The Arguments of the Study
It is true that economic incentives, trust in governments and institutions, and risk perception have a great influence on policy acceptance in the process to select a particular site of a radioactive waste disposal facility. Though all of these factors reach the satisfactory level, we can never guarantee the completeness of policy acceptance. Since such factors have the interaction with diverse situational conditions by timely flow, they may hamstring policy intention of government agencies. Though, government authorities have considered not how situational conditions change artificial input components but what are estimated as simple (linear) causal factors. In other words, incorrect analyses on the cause-and-effect relationship (policy analyses grounded on spurious relationship) evoke the misleading correction of policy errors. This fallacy in policy process was the consequence of not carefully - with the blind concentration on achieving policy goals - investigating the interaction through which policy acceptance was formed.
On the basis of Catastrophe Theory, this research on location process of radioactive waste disposal facilities in 2005 explores the process by which interaction determines policy acceptance. In the first phase, the new policy trial of a government re-generated pro-opinions and anti-opinions about radioactive waste disposal facilities. Such opinion re-generation itself could not warrant the increase of policy acceptance because the creation of bipolar opinions has also been showed in the past location decision-making processes, when the strengthened power of anti-nuclear groups made local politicians not free from political pressure and let them not express their support for nuclear facility location. The spread of pro-nuclear opinions was very uncertain because of still more visible activism of anti-nuclear groups.
Second, Kyoungju anti-nuclear civic groups that had been the center of strong anti-nuclear opinions publicly supported to invite a radioactive waste disposal facility with the emphasis of local specificity. This reverse turn of local anti-nuclear group reduced political burdens on local politicians' shoulder so that Kyoungju City Council immediately and officially announced the support for inviting that facility. The pro-nuclear facility proclamation of Kyoungju City Council led open discussions in other localities. The vitalization of local open discussions shrank anti-nuclear activism so that favorable conditions for spreading pro-opinions were shaped. Local politicians who explore the momentum of local development actively expressed the enthusiastic support for inviting a radioactive waste disposal facility right after pro-opinions became more dominant. Official supports from four local councils (Kyoungju, Gunsan, Pohang, and Youngduk) generated invitation competition phase.
Third, the formation of competition made four localities not only set the new goal to win over rival communities but also mobilize inner capacity to disseminate pro-opinions. Each local community detected competitors' strategies and tried to actively block activities of anti-groups. While this situation stagnated the diffusion of anti-opinions, it led that of pro-opinions. The prevalence of residents' competition anxiety and crisis argument ("we must never lose in the invitation competition") mobilized psychological factors for permeating pro-opinions. Also, the voluntary participation of local civic groups multiplied the extent of support rather than simply increased it. Consequently, all of competing localities exhibited a high level of agreement on inviting the facility and rapid turn of policy acceptance.
This analysis result demonstrates that policy acceptance is determined not merely by artificial input elements that government authorities project but also by maturation of situational conditions through which those elements are positively operated. Especially, it identifies that who participate in the site selection process affects policy acceptance.
Ⅲ. Implication of the Study
The analysis on rapid change in policy acceptance derives the following meaningful implications from the application of the Catastrophe Theory to the location policy case of a radioactive waste disposal facility. Firstly, the dependence upon linear causality in policy analysis makes it impossible to explore the substantial dynamics of policy phenomena; furthermore, the misleading conclusion of policy analysis by spurious correlation provokes a chronic policy failure. The evidence to the policy failure is the fact that the level of policy acceptance has stayed extremely low despite the continuous stress on the linearity between problems and prescription.
Second, the Catastrophe Theory is a very useful alternative way of explanation in policy analysis in the point that it overcomes limitations of linear explanation by valuing elements in the flow of time and the interaction between situational conditions. The conclusion of the analysis on rapid change of policy acceptance, based on the Catastrophe Theory, remarks that both the level and the strength of anti-group activism which serve as situational conditions greatly affect policy acceptance.
Third, socially rapid revolving is not created by some specific factors, but rather the addition of a tipping point (an impetus that spurs rapid change) to the long-term accumulation of those presumptive factors. This means that seemingly rapid social phenomena actually follow incremental and evolutionary change. The quick turn of policy acceptance is impossible without the precedence of gradual institutional changes.
Fourth, policy acceptance is not decided by individuals' rational choice. Pro-nuclear facility activism as well as the participation of local politicians and residents in the movement against abominated facilities was because they could not but help recognize political pressure from and stigma within local society. Rather than the individual expression of preference, policy acceptance is the consequence of collective action made by political particularity of local society.
Finally, the discussion about policy acceptance should be accompanied with the great attention to the participatory map. Who participates in policy-making process is an important tipping point that determines whether the perception of residents as policy target is positive or negative. The information provided by anti-groups with ideological foundation tends to be communicated not rationally but sentimentally; as a result, the dissemination of emotional information lacking logical ground has a negative influence on policy acceptance.