정책 대상 집단의 사회적 구성 이론을 통한 문재인 정부 부동산 정책 실패 사례연구

This study examines the failure of real estate policy under the Moon Jae-in administration through the theoretical framework of the “Social Construction of Target Populations” (Schneider & Ingram, 1993). In contrast to previous research that attributes policy failure to technical or market-related factors, this study focuses on how the social images and power relations of target groups influenced both policy design and public acceptance. The findings indicate that the failure resulted from a crisis of legitimacy and collective resistance, which emerged due to a mismatch between the government's and the public’s perceptions of target population constructions. Advantaged groups (e.g., single-homeowners) were redefined as regulatory targets, thereby undermining trust in the policy. Contenders (e.g., multi-homeowners) escalated strategic resistance, while dependents (e.g., the homeless) expressed disappointment and disengaged from policy expectations, opting instead for direct market participation. Furthermore, the policy discourse that characterized routine and commonly adopted investment behaviors—such as “gap investment”—as speculative acts contributed to the stigmatization of citizens' identities and significantly weakened public receptivity. These findings suggest that policy effectiveness depends not only on technical and instrumental rationality, but also on the ways in which target populations are socially constructed. Accordingly, this study underscores that such social constructions must be recognized as a critical dimension of policy design and effectiveness.