An Interdisciplinary Study on the Concept and Essential Elements of Good Administration

This study aims to reconstruct the concept of “good administration” through an interdisciplinary approach, integrating perspectives from law, public administration, political science, sociology, and law and economics. Rather than presenting a fixed definition, it identifies six core elements of good administration—rule of law, due process, transparency and predictability, civic participation and democratic accountability, fairness and justice, and administrative efficiency and performance— and examines how these normative values are translated into practical institutional standards. Drawing on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and key Korean statutes such as the Constitution, the Administrative Procedures Act, the Framework Act on Administrative Regulation, and the Act on the Management of Public Institutions, this study analyzes how good administration can be normatively grounded and legally implemented in the Korean context. It highlights that good administration is not merely about legal formality or procedural correctness, but about achieving substantive protection of fundamental rights, enhancing institutional trust, and realizing effective and balanced governance. The study concludes that the core requirements of good administration must be seen as an integrated value system—one that harmonizes rule of law, legal stability and flexibility, transparency, fairness, democratic participation, and smart regulatory capability within a modern administrative state. Recognizing the limitations of the current legal framework in areas such as access to information, qualitative performance evaluation, and overly complex administrative procedures, the paper suggests legislative reforms including simplification of procedures, expansion of digital accessibility, and institutional safeguards to promote trust and responsibility in public administration.