논문

This study was conducted to answer two important questions: first, what kind of
institutional measures are available for citizen participation?; second, what do
citizens think about it? The former question was answered by analyzing currently
available measures of participation provided by the local government. To answer
the latter question a citizen survey was conducted in the city of Suwon.

There have been a variety of institutional measures of participation such as
committees, hearings, information disclosure, etc. However most of them are not
effective in satisfying citizen needs and providing better local public services.
Thus, more direct measures of participation including referendum and recall are
needed to speed up the process of participation at the local level.

The citizen survey shows that citizens have a strong desire for participation but
they lack the knowledge on how they can participate. So, it is strongly
recommended that the local government should conduct more active public
relations activities for citizen participation and provide more opportunities for
education. Also, there should be more room for non-governmental organizations
to participate and make their voices into community decision-making.

Almost a decade has passed since the system of local autonomy was introduced
again in this country. Although the level of decentralization does not fully provide
local authorities with sufficient autonomy, local governments are required to
provide their citizens with more opportunities for participation since both
decentralization and participation are two critical components of local autonomy.