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IRPA Forum: Seeking Indigenous Theories of Korean Public Administration

Editorial Note: In 2005, the Korean Association of Public Administration convened a number of discussions and panels to explore ways in which scholars and researchers interested in Korean public administration could develop indigenous theories on Korean public administration. There has been a wide range of theoretical pro and con positions over the issue with a number of methodological strategies presented on different occasions (KAPA’s autumn and winter conferences). To engage in this debate the IRPA invited the readers to contribute thoughts to the IRPA forum and three leading scholars in the policy studies have responded with ideas which are featured in this volume. Contributors in this Forum also show different predilections as in other discussions. Cho explains that the experience of Korean public administration and the transformation of Korean society in general provides ample research themes that can be rich food for indigenous theories, while Jun believes that students of Korean public administration need to open thoughts to the wider methodological horizons beyond the positivistic orientation in order to construct an indigenous theories of public administration. Midgley discusses the issues with respect to social policy studies while presenting the view point of the post-colonial societies. He argues that social policy scholars in different societies should see the subject matter from an indigenous perspective challenging the dominant theoretical frameworks which are often developed in Western societies. The IRPA hopes that this IRPA Forum stimulates further discussions on this issue among readers.