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EPIK Journals Online
International Community Building: East Asia Community (Vol. 1 Iss. 03)
Civil Society Participation in Regional Governances in East Asia: By Assessing Their Institutions
Author: Mee Young Leem, Korea University Released Date: August 2010
Introduction: This paper answers to the question, “What are the conditions of good regional governance, and how do the governances in East Asia work” by looking at civil society participation of regional governances in the East Asian region. That is, it aims to assess regional governances and to analyze the participation of the institutionalized civil society networks.
This paper assumes integration means not only inter-governmental cooperation, but also includes cooperation through networks among various actors in civil society which are systematized within the framework of global governance. In other words, an institutionalized global network of civil society can foster good global governance, and good global governance can deepen and broaden integration. This paper demonstrates its main argument by examining the conditions of good governance and empirically scrutinizing the structure of East Asian regional governances.
This paper argues that genuine integration cannot be achieved only by state-driven and top-down mechanism of regional governance, but can be accomplished by good regional governance, which includes civic participation through institutionalized networks of regional civil society. In order to argue this, this paper will be divided into three parts.
The first part provides the theoretical background, which will be applied throughout this paper. The paper is in line with transnationalism which emphasizes the power of civil society influencing global initiatives. This part extends the previously existing theory of transnationalism, which simply points out the importance of civil participation. The emphasis of this paper is on the officially institutionalized civil participation through transnational networks.
Secondly, this paper defines the concept of global governance. Also, it describes the three conditions of good governance; participation, accountability and transparency. It shows that the institutionalized participation of civil society can encourage good regional governance. The East Asian regional institutions widely recognize the three conditions as important factor to create good governances.
Thirdly, the paper examines the structure of major regional governances in East Asia and assesses civil society participation of the institutions, for examples, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) and The ASEAN Foundation. According to its structure and main actors, they respectively are categorized as Track I, Track II, and Track III. This paper investigates the institutions of regional governance in East Asia by using the factors of participation. After assessing each the regional governance with the factors of civil society participation, the paper finds that regional governance has mostly focused on top-down, government-driven mechanism, rather than comprehensive civil society participation.
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Key Words: Global Governance, East Asian Regional Governances, Integration, Civil Society
Designing Effective Environmental Regime Complex in Northeast Asia
2010 EPIK Young Leaders Essay Competition Award-Winning Work (4th Prize)
Author: YunSuk Chung, Princeton University Released Date: August 2010
Introduction: Environmental concerns, especially climate change, have emerged as one of the most pressing problems that the world faces today. Recognizing this fact, leaders of Northeast Asian states, albeit to a varying degree, have expressed their willingness to cooperate in order to address environmental problems. However, critics point out that amidst countless talks and promises, no extensive effort has been made in the region to form an effective, comprehensive regime that serves to facilitate cooperation in dealing with environmental problems.
One way to analyze this phenomenon is to examine the current state of international relations in Northeast Asia, casting some light on the possibilities for and limitations of cooperation in Northeast Asia. Most scholarly works to date have taken this approach, offering explanations based on such diverse factors as domestic politics, underdeveloped scientific research, historical legacies, and even the regional culture. Thus, the existing literature largely deals with the question of given which independent variables it would be possible to build effective environmental regimes in Northeast Asia.
Although this approach represents one of the most natural ways to formulate the problem, it is not the only way. It is equally important to consider how environmental regimes in Northeast Asia should change in order to become effective in facilitating cooperation. From the perspective of policymakers committed to environmental cooperation, for example, this question would bear substantial weight. This paper seeks to answer this question.
Several caveats should be noted. First, for the purpose of this paper, the boundary of Northeast Asia is restricted to China, Japan, and Republic of Korea. Although other states, especially Russia, possess both influence and interest in the region, they do not share the urgency of environmental problems that the other three countries collectively face, such as acid deposition originating from China. Second, this paper depends on the premise that China, Japan, and Korea are at least willing to take collective actions to lessen their contributions to environmental problems. Recent trends, such as China’s decision to cooperate with Korea and Japan in monitoring yellow dust, continue to render such premise less far-fetched. Third, treating environmental regimes as independent variables that can be altered rests on the assumption that they are not completely subsumed under states’ interests. Although the current literature documents a long history of important debates on this issue, such debates are not the primary concern of this essay.
The paper starts by providing a brief overview of the existing environmental regimes in Northeast Asia. Then, I argue that the current regime complex in Northeast Asia has specific shortcomings in facilitating environmental cooperation, especially during the stages of implementation and enforcement. Then, the next section identifies and argues for several ways in which the current regime complex can change in order to correct its shortcomings. Most importantly, I argue that more efforts should be made to encourage cooperation outside of the central government, including local governments as well as nonstate actors.
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Key Words: Environmental Regime, Regime Complex in Northeast Asia, Central Government, Local Governments, NGOs |