Public Happiness

Seung Jong Lee is Professor Emeritus of the Graduate School of Public Administration at Seoul National University. He received his B.A. and M.P.A. from Seoul National University and Ph.D. from Northwestern University. His research interests include local governance, citizen participation and community well-being. He is Author of several books such as Theories of Local Autonomy: Politics and Policy (2003), Theories of Civic Participation (co-author, 2011), National Happiness and Government 3.0 (co-author, 2013), Theories of Local Autonomy Institutions (co-author, 2015), Quality of Life of 21st Century Local Residents (co-author, 1998) and Unfolding Korean Civil Society and Community Citizenship (co-author, 1997). He is also Co-editor of Community Well-Being and Community Development (with Rhonda Phillips, Springer, 2014), Issues of Local Autonomy (2014), and Government and Participation in Japanese and Korean Civil Society (with Yoshiaki Kobayashi, 2010). He has also published many articles in the field of local governance, civic participation and community well-being.

He has actively participated in various governmental advisory positions, such as President of the Korea Research Institute for Local Administration (KRILA), Member of the Presidential Transition Committee for the Park regime, Chairperson of the National Evaluation Committee for Local Performance, Chairperson of the Evaluation Committee of the Regional Board of Education and Vice Chair of the Presidential Committee on Local Autonomy Development.