Governing the Green-Digital State: Comparative Institutional Analysis of Climate Policy Implementation in Germany and South Korea

Abstract

This article examines how political institutions shape the implementation of green-digital governance reforms and sustainable development outcomes in Germany and South Korea. Both countries are advanced industrial democracies with strong administrative capacity, export-oriented political economies, and ambitious climate and digital transformation strategies. Yet their institutional pathways differ significantly: Germany operates through federal, corporatist, and consensus-oriented governance, while South Korea relies on a more centralized developmental-administrative model. Drawing on comparative governance analysis, institutional political economy, climate governance theory, and public policy implementation studies, this article argues that green-digital transformation depends not only on technological innovation or climate ambition but on institutional coordination, bureaucratic adaptability, fiscal capacity, and democratic legitimacy. The findings show that Germany’s federal and corporatist model strengthens stakeholder inclusion and legal accountability but often slows policy implementation, while South Korea’s centralized coordination enables rapid strategic mobilization but creates risks of technocratic imbalance and uneven participatory legitimacy. The study contributes to comparative politics and governance scholarship by developing an institutional framework linking political institutions, digital governance, climate policy implementation, socio-economic restructuring, and sustainable development resilience.