Overview of the Government of Japan - Case Study Example

Country Report of the of the Overview of the government of Japan The government of Japan or the Japanese government is a constitutional monarchy. The constitution of the country was made post world war and limits the power of the emperor to being a constitutional head. Japan’s constitution is much more recent as compared to the UK or US constitution. Japan is also a constitutional monarchy where the power of the Emperor is very limited. The emperor’s power is limited and is focused mainly on the performance of ceremonial duties. The government is divided into three separate branches that are Executive, legislative and Judiciary. The constitution of Japan is enacted as a revision to the earlier version that existed in the pre war period. As a feature of the new constitution the executive and the legislative branches are accountable to each other and this is known as fusion form of government. The constitution of Japan states that Japan follows a parliamentary form of government. The constitution grants certain fundamental rights to citizen. Way of choosing policies and enacting laws After war that took place the party which has been in the leadership position for most of the time is the Liberal Democratic Party. The policy making that has taken place in the party arena has thus been mostly within the Liberal Democratic Party. The bureaucracy in Japan also plays a major role in the policy making of the country. In the USA and the England the bureaucrats implement policies but do not enact any policies. However the same cannot be said about Japan. In Japan there are several features that make the bureaucrats of Japan different from those of the Great Britain and USA. There are several causes behind the same: 1. The Bureaucracy is highly respected in Japan due to the fact that post war the bureaucracy helped Japan in becoming the global economic super power that it is today (Gavilan College, 2010). 2. Japan is one of those rare countries is where being a bureaucrat is a highly respected occupation subject to the fact that one clears high level entrance examination. A higher level in the bureaucracy is dominated by the top grads of different top law schools in the country. 3. The bureaucrats are ones who first run government ministries and then retire in order to become member of the diet or corporate executives. 4. Compared to any other liberal democracies policy decision in Japan are made out of the public view and made mostly out of government ministries. 5. In Japan according to the official rules, the members of the Diet can initiate legislations, debate alternatives, amend bills and pass laws. 6. Research by scholars however shows that almost all the legislations in Japan are created out of the diet in the Ministries. 7. The fact that emerges from the above points is that most of the policies that are enacted in Japan are through the process of bargaining in between the cabinet ministers of the liberal Democratic Party and the prime ministers, leaders of factions that exist within the party, bureaucracy, business and the labor leaders. Role of elections The political system in Japan has three types of elections. One of the elections is the general elections that is held every 4 years and elects members to the House of Representatives. The election for the house of councilors is held every three years in order to choose half of its members (Library of Congress, 2010). There are also local elections that are held every four years in order to choose members in offices of prefectures, cities and villages. In 1996, The Japanese government adopted a new election system that was hybrid for holding election in the lower house. The classic example of the hybrid system of election is in Germany Countries like Japan follows a variant of this system. The elections are held under the supervision of election committee at each of the administration level and are held under the general direction of central election administration committee. The central election and administration committee is an organization that is attached to the ministry of internal affairs and communication. The minimum age at which an individual is eligible to vote is 20 years. It is required that the voters establish their residency for 3 months before they are allowed to cast vote at the elections in Japan. Members who are seeking representation in the different offices, there are 2 sets of requirements regarding age. For getting admissions to the House of Representatives and most of the local offices the minimum age requirement is 25 years. On the other hand for getting admission to the house of councilors and prefectural governorship the minimum age is 30 years. The candidate has to deposit fees of 3 million yen or 30 thousand dollar in order to compete for the single seat. The fees to be paid are 6 million yen or 60 thousand dollars for proportional representation. Constitutional structure The constitution of the country was enacted after the world war that was held. It was after the world war the Japan had to adopt a new constitution. The constitution of Japan defines the government to be of unitary form. Local government in Japan is established by the act of devolution. The law followed is local autonomy law. Before the war the Japan followed a monarchical system of governance with main emphasis on militarily system of governance. After the war the government of Japan adopted a new constitution which was also known as post-war constitution or peace constitution. The most characteristics of the constitution were the renunciation of the right to wage war. Japan’s previous constitution was a monarchical constitution with main focus on military system of governance (Prime minister of Japan and his cabinet, 2015). After the war however the new constitution focuses on constitutional monarchy system of government of Japan. The constitution of Japan has never been amended after it was enacted after the war. The constitution of Japan was enacted in the year 1889 and known as Meji constitution after the reign of the emperor in whose era it was enacted. It provided for a form of government that offered a mix of constitutional and absolute monarchy. After the war took place Japan was made to unconditionally surrender and renounce its old constitution. As per the new constitution that was enacted Japan was not allowed to keep any military power. The new constitution made Japan free from the monarchical state of affairs for the government. The new constitution freed Japan from the clutches of monarchy and made the country a democratic country where the head was elected through election. The monarch served as the constitutional head of the state. Political parties or players The main political parties in Japan are Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Party, Innovation party, Komeito and communist party. The liberal Democratic Party is the largest party of Japan and was formed in the year 1955 by the merger of two conservative parties’ of Japan liberal party of Japan and Japan Democratic Party (Roskin, 2013). The party was almost continuously in power from 1955 to 2009. The LDP or the Liberal Democratic Party is the largest party in Japan. Being a conventional party LDP is further made up of several conservative, autonomist and centrist factors. The Democratic Party of Japan is the second largest party after liberal Democratic Party. The party was formed in the year 1990 by the amalgamation of numerous anti LDP parties. The liberal Democratic Party in Japan is widely described as center right. The party is similar in structure to the conservative party of UK. The Democratic party of Japan is the largest opposition party in Japan and runs a shadow cabinet. The party was in power in the year 2009-12. Although, the membership of the democratic party of Japan follows a wide gamut of political belief its main belief is focused towards centrism and is perceived as a centrist party. The innovation party was formed by the merger of Unity party of Kenji Eda and Japan Restoration party of Toru Hashimoto. The party is considered more right wing in its approach as compared to the Democratic party of Japan. Previously known as the clean government political assembly the party was formed and founded as a central left party. The party was third in the House of Representatives in Japan until recently and is supported by new religious movement of the Buddhist known as Soka Gakkai. The party dropped thee prefix new from its name in 2014. References Gavilan College. (2010). Politics in Japan: Policies and Policymaking. Retrieved from http://hhh.gavilan.edu/mturetzky/Pols3/Lecture7PolicymakinginJapan.htm Library of Congress. (2010). Country study: Japan. Retrieved from http://cdn.loc.gov/master/frd/frdcstdy/ja/japancountrystud00dola/japancountrystud00dola.pdf Prime minister of Japan and his cabinet. (2015). The constitution of Japan. Retrieved from http://japan.kantei.go.jp/constitution_and_government_of_japan/constitution_e.html Roskin, M. G. (2013). Countries and Concepts: Politics, Geography, Culture. London: Pearson. Read More