Traditionally, inter-organizational or inter-departmental
relationships in public administration have often
been viewed as rivalry and antagonistic. Inter-departmental
rivalry was a crucial element in preventing the
formation of more effective and cooperative governance
structures in the past. Intergovernmental networks, are
networks based on the representative organizations of public agencies. They are characterized by “limited
membership, limited vertical interdependence and
extensive horizontal articulation (Rhodes & Marsh,
1992).” More telling description of an intergovernmental
network is the interdependence stemming from
resource polling based on ‘complementarity’ among
public agencies. They are different from vertical and
hierarchical networks which are based on resource transfers
or authority-driven relationships. There are two different
types of intergovernmental networks in Korea and
they are inter-departmental networks within the central
government and central-local government networks.