Three-Nation Comparison on Mayors' Policy Preferences: Korea, Japan, and the USA

Abstract

This paper reviews different political culture and policy preferences among mayors in Korean, Japan and the United States. In doing so, this paper introduces the New Political Culture (NPC) perspective as a frame of reference, in which the NPC is characterized by public-oriented politics and austere fiscal spending. This paper expects that Korean mayors will exhibit relatively low NPC-orientation vis-a-vis Japanese and US mayors. Using the data set collected by Fiscal Austerity and Urban Innovation project, this paper examines mayors' NPC-orientation in several aspects, including mayors' dependency on conventional political parties, mayors' use of local media to appeal the constituents, and mayors' fiscal policy preferences. The results of the comparison support the expectation of the NPC perspective. The Korean mayors are more dependent on the conventional political parties, less appealing to the citizens directly, and more supporting the increase of city expenditure than the Japanese and US mayors.