Reverse‐Diffusion of Policy in Multilevel Governance: The Dynamics of South Korea's Lonely Death Ordinances

ABSTRACT This study examines the diffusion of local ordinances addressing lonely deaths in South Korea and introduces the concept of reverse‐diffusion of policy—a process in which local innovations diffuse upward to higher levels of government, become institutionalised and subsequently diffuse downward to late‐adopting jurisdictions. Using Cox Proportional Hazards Models and Kaplan–Meier analysis across 243 local governments (2007–2021), the study finds that ordinance adoption is shaped by a combination of social problems, leadership capacity, communal identity and intergovernmental diffusion mechanisms. Basic local governments adopted earlier and more gradually, whereas metropolitan governments exhibited later but more concentrated adoption patterns, suggesting sequential upward and downward processes following the enactment of the 2020 Lonely Death Act. The findings highlight the dynamic and multidirectional nature of diffusion within multilevel governance systems, offering empirical support for reverse‐diffusion and demonstrating how diffusion dynamics evolve over time during the process of policy institutionalisation.