지방의회 정책지원관의 직무특성 분석 및 조직구성 방안에 관한 연구 -느슨한 연결 체제(loosely coupled system)의 적용- = Job Characteristics Analysis and Organizational Design for Local Council Policy Support Officers: The application of the loosely coupled system

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Following the comprehensive revision of the Local Autonomy Act in 2021, the Policy Support Officer system was introduced to provide professional assistance for the legislative activities of local council members. Given that local council members had long conducted their legislative activities without individualized support, the Policy Support Officer system is evaluated as having contributed to enhancing the quality of legislative activities. However, as the scope of duties of policy support officers is broadly defined, various concerns have been raised regarding their roles and responsibilities, methods of departmental placement, and modes of operation. In particular, given the ongoing debate over how policy support officers should be organized and function, this study aims to propose an organizational design for policy support officers by focusing on a comparative analysis of their job characteristics with those of existing council secretariat staff.
To this end, this study draws on the concept of a loosely coupled system. In such a system, relationships among organizational components are neither tightly integrated nor entirely independent. The study examines the need to establish a loosely connected relationship among policy support officers, the council secretariat, and council members. The analysis concludes that, when considering the job characteristics of policy support officers, assigning them within the existing council secretariat structure is not effective. Accordingly, as a means of establishing a loosely connected relationship between policy support officers, the council secretariat, and council members, this study proposes four organizational models: committee-centered support, support for all members, specialized support for legislative and budgetary functions, and legislative research support. These models are expected to enable an organizational configuration aligned with the distinctive characteristics of policy support officers’ roles, thereby enhancing the autonomy of local councils and exerting a positive impact on their functions.