Structural Changes of the Central State Apparatus in Japan and Korea

What happened under the rubric of small-government reform slogans during the era of cutback management in Japan and Korea? This paper analyzes and discusses the structural changes of the central state apparatus, and provides implications to the constraints and opportunities of administrative reforms in Japan and Korea. Applying the ‘bureau-shaping model’ of Patrick Dunleavy, we find substantive validity for the bureau-shaping strategy in both countries; both state apparatus have been shaping their delivery agencies into transfer, contract and control agencies. However, the degree of changes was not enough (especially, in Japan) to strongly test the hypotheses of the bureau-shaping model. Now, structural changes of the state apparatus in both countries are expected to be more radical than those in past years. And the explanatory power of the bureau-shaping model is anticipated to be greater in the future.