Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Method In order to analyze perceptions of trust and accountability in the context of transparency pertaining to the Citizen Council of South Korea, I tried a semi-structured-interview approach with twelve experts. Among these twelve experts, seven were members of the Committee and five had experience with the Committee as information providers. In addition, I interviewed a total of twenty lay people. This included ten lay people without knowledge of the Citizen Council and ten lay people who had that knowledge. Interview protocol comprised five trust dimensions and three accountability dimensions. The five trust dimensions are: ability, benevolence, integrity, fairness, and mutual trust. The three accountability dimensions are: financial accountability, procedural accountability, and product accountability.

Result Experts distrust the Citizen Council in general, while some on the public side trusted in the Citizens Council’s ability, benevolence, integrity, and fairness. Several experts suspected that there might be bias in selection of participants. Participants argued that the members of the Citizen Council had sufficient ability, although they reported that, within the meetings that they themselves did not have sufficient abilities to conduct meaningful discussions. Several interviewees thought that the abilities, which people expect of members of the Citizen Council, are not that of knowledgeable, but recognition of the values and needs of the general public. Many respondents were skeptical about procedural accountability due to practical reasons. Several interviewees argued that the Citizen Council had no product accountability, due to a lack of legal support for the management, and there is no certainty that the result of Citizen Council decisions will affect the final decision.

Discussion A more reasonable management model, with transparent processes and accountability for decision-making could result in improved procedures and outcomes in the area of health care expansion policy. So, I want to suggest some policy strategies for encouraging deliberate social agreement between experts and the citizenry. Above all, transparent processes and publicity are most essential challenges in the Health Citizen Council. In addition, accountability of the Citizen Council will require increased social consensus. We need to have serious discussions about this topic in order to build a consensus.