Responsive Democracy: Increasing State Accountability in East Asia

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments This project began during my early days as a graduate student, when I encountered an observation by Will Heller, Phil Keefer, and Mat McCubbins that Korea had recently passed an administrative procedure act (APA). Having just read McNollgast’s theory of APA passage in the United States, I was immediately intrigued about why Korea had passed such a law. Soon thereafter, a dissertation topic was born. As I near the end of the journey that this book has come to represent for me, I have many individuals to thank. Because this project began as a doctoral dissertation at UCLA, I owe the greatest debt for its development to my academic advisers. From the outset, Kathy Bawn, chair of my dissertation committee, was genuinely enthusiastic about my work. No matter what factoid or underdeveloped idea I brought to her attention, I left her of‹ce in a much better place. Her patience, encouragement, and advice on a wide range of topics have been and continue to be an important source of guidance and inspiration. Mike Thies, who took me under his wing as soon as I entered graduate school, encouraged me to return to my roots and pursue research on Korea . He mentored me throughout my graduate career by pushing me to place Korean politics in a broader institutional context. Had it not been for his constant support and enthusiasm, I might never have stumbled on this project. I learned a great deal about scholarly research during our many—and I mean many—conversations over coffee and pizza. I am forever grateful for his wisdom and encouragement. I am also grateful to J. R. DeShazo for his enthusiasm, valuable critiques , and strong support. I especially appreciate his consistent encour- agement and concern for my career, as when he gave me the opportunity to present my research at the UCLA Center for Governance Conference on External and Internal Governance of Public Agencies. John Londregan, too, offered consistent support for my work. His enthusiasm was very contagious, and our conversations always sparked new ideas. Larry Diamond, Ron Rogowski, and Matthew Shugart offered valuable comments and suggestions early on in the development of my research . I also bene‹ted a great deal from my interactions with a number of exceptional faculty, including Jim DeNardo, Barbara Geddes, Miriam Golden, Barbara Koremenos, Mike Lofchie, Tom Schwartz, Barbara Sinclair , and George Tsebelis. At UC–San Diego, Gary Cox, Karen Ferree, Stephan Haggard, David Lake, Megumi Naoi, Sam Popkin, Phil Roeder, and Kaare Strøm read and offered valuable comments on various chapters or complete drafts of this manuscript. I am especially grateful to Mat McCubbins, who read and commented on multiple drafts of several chapters, helped me to frame my project, and offered constant encouragement and support. More generally, I have bene‹ted enormously from the outstanding intellectual environments at UCLA and UC–San Diego, in large measure because of my interactions with exceptional faculty members and graduate students. I thank my many colleagues who listened to my ideas or read parts of my dissertation project: Allyson Benton, Hanna Birnir, Eric Chang, Linda Choi-Hasunuma, Chris Jensen, David Karol, Mark Kayser, Kee-Seok Kim, Duncan MacRae, Woojin Moon, Chris Rudolph, Sanchita Saxena, Ross Schaap, and Elin Skaar. I also bene‹ted tremendously from comments by the members of UCLA’s Political Economy Workshop. At UC–San Diego, I am grateful to Adam Brown, Jihyeon Jeong, Danielle Jung, and Alejandra Ríos-Cázares for outstanding research assistance and to Nathan Batto for his valuable insights into Taiwanese politics. I am especially grateful to Danielle for her valuable comments and suggestions on the manuscript. Fieldwork was one of the most critical aspects of this project. For putting me in contact with key interview subjects, I am grateful to Richard Baum, Alex Brillantes, Choi Chul-Hee, Cora de Leon, Larry Diamond, Allen Hicken, Hoh Moon, Yuko Kasuya, Jih-Wen Lin, Yinsog Rhee, and Dennis Tang. In Seoul, I am especially grateful to Park Kwan-Yong, Lim Woo-Yeong, Lee Kyung-Shik, Cho Paek J., Lee Seongman, Park Nam Hoon, Choi JungIl , Rhee Wang-Oo, Kim Duk-Oo, Kim Seung Hee, Lee Chae-Pil, Park Se Jin, Kwon Chul-Hyun, Kim Sung Hyun, Choi Byung-Sun, Rhee Zusun, x | Acknowledgments Kim Byung Kook, Joh Jung Jay, Lee Young Jo, Kim Byung Kook, Kim Suk Joon, and Im Hyug Baeg. In Taipei, I pro‹ted greatly from my...