Political Culture, Governance and Climate Change Adaptation: Case Study of South Korea

Abstract

Many scholars highlight the essence of a participatory governance approach to climate change adaptation and the positive impact of allowing multiple actors participation in the process of decision making as a determinant for successful adaptation to climate change. However, political culture in some societies does not support participation, and people are neither interested nor even aware of political actions. There are very few studies carried out that examine cultural, especially political cultural, influences over governing climate change adaptation. In response to this academic gap, this research aims to investigate how political culture influences a governance approach to climate change adaptation. Using an empirical case study of the process of formulating national climate change adaptation policies in South Korea, this study examines the way decisions are made about climate change policies under ‘dominant bureaucratic’, ‘authoritarian’ and ‘weak participant’ political cultures and investigates how such political cultures will hamper or encourage a governance approach to effective climate change adaptation. This study therefore advances knowledge about how political culture influences climate change adaptation. It provides a basis for comparative analyses of other political cultures in different regions and will enable scholars to understand the challenges that particular forms of governance hold for promoting climate change adaptation.