The government’s mid- to long-term plans, developed every 5–10 years, serve as critical legal frameworks to ensure policy consistency and long-term strategic direction. While these plans outline policy visions, they are non-binding and do not impose direct obligations or rights on citizens. However, their rapid growth in number—from 534 in 2019 to 679 in 2022— has exposed challenges such as weak interconnectivity and coherence among plans, redundancies, inefficiencies, and unclear hierarchies between upper- and lower-level plans. Additionally, frequent policy changes and vague funding strategies have further diminished the effectiveness of these plans. This study evaluates the structure and interconnectivity of mid- to long-term plans in the social policy sector, assessing their impact across key policy areas in a bid to propose actionable improvement strategies.
This study employed network centrality and community detection analyses on 68 mid- to long-term plans across social policy areas, including healthcare, education, housing, employment, and social security. Key communities were identified around employment, healthcare, social security, population, and housing plans. High-centrality plans, such as the Basic Employment Policy Plan and the Comprehensive National Health Promotion Plan, were found to function as hubs within the network. However, the network as a whole exhibited low cohesion and significant fragmentation, underscoring the need for efficiency improvements.
Meta-evaluations across major social policy areas provided the following critical insights: Regional Disparities and Depopulation: Region-specific policies and enhancements to living infrastructure are essential for addressing these issues.
Health Inequalities: Expanding public healthcare institutions and leveraging digital healthcare solutions are critical for reducing disparities.
Universal Policies for Vulnerable Groups: While universal policies for older adults and young children have shown some success in mitigating inequality, additional income-based support is required to address disparities within these groups.
Work-Life Balance: Improving the universality and effectiveness of parental leave systems, alongside increasing male participation in parental leave, is crucial for achieving better work-life integration.
To address the redundancies and fragmented linkages among mid- to long-term government plans, the establishment of a dedicated coordinating body is recommended. This body should ensure policy consistency by minimizing political interference. Furthermore, the National Assembly must strengthen the legal framework to improve the connectivity and systematic organization of these plans. Continuous monitoring of policy impacts and reinforcement of feedback mechanisms are essential for achieving sustained improvements. These institutional reforms are expected to enhance policy efficiency, reduce social inequality, and contribute to sustainable development. This study offers valuable insights to optimize mid- to long-term planning in the social policy sector.
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