 |
Basic
Legislative Issues on Japan’s Governance Structure
(February 28, 2002)
Congressional Forum for New Japan (21 Seiki Rincho) |
| |
| 1.
Basic principles |
 |
| Reforms
of Japan’s governance structure should be based on the
following principles. (i) To promote public participation
in politics, the structure of the government, administration,
and legal system should be changed so that they can be
readily understood by the people; (ii) People’s sense
of powerlessness in politics should be eradicated by creating
a system that would facilitate changes in government; (iii)
A mechanism should be created that would enable the elected
party and its leader to exercise full control over the bureaucratic
structure of all ministries and agencies. It should also allow
them to execute their political policies so that they may
conduct the affairs of the state in response to public opinion.
Decentralization reforms and reforms of the parliamentary
Cabinet system should both be pursued in light of the above
principles. The former is expected to provide a clear separation
of central and local governance and administration, and the
latter, to reconstruct the relationship between political
parties (party politicians) and the bureaucracy (occupational
administrators), and establish a government-led (Cabinet-led)
decision-making system. |
| |
| 2.
Issues under the current Constitution: Decentralization reforms |
|
|
| (1) |
Structural reform
of tax resources |
| |
|
| (2) |
Deregulation of
statutes on local administration |
| |
|
| (3) |
Relaxation of
institutional restrictions on the political framework of local
municipalities |
| |
|
| (4) |
Creation of an
“Agency of Local Governments” in anticipation of
a transition toward a provincial government system (doushuu-sei) |
| |
|
| (5) |
Utilization of
the system of special local autonomy laws—Transition
toward a “one nation, multi system” framework— |
| |
|
| (6) |
Examination of
the basic local autonomy law |
| 3.
Issues under the current Constitution: Reforms of the parliamentary
Cabinet system |
|
|
| (1) |
Electoral system
reform—A shift toward simple electoral districts— |
| |
|
| (2) |
Reviewing the
relationship between the Cabinet and governing party to realize
a responsible Cabinet (Cabinet/Party unification) |
| |
|
| (3) |
New rules for
politicians and bureaucrats, and reform of the bureaucracy |
| |
|
| (4) |
Diet reform—Introducing
the reading and clause-by-clause review systems |
| |
|
| (5) |
Reexamination
of party rules which restrict individual actions within political
parties |
| 4.
Basic legislative reforms for future constitutional revisions |
|
|
| (1) |
Legislation of
constitutional revision procedures—Enactment of a law
concerning procedures for constitutional revisions |
| |
|
| (2) |
Establishment
of constitutional provisions concerning “party rules”
and “roles of politicians and bureaucrats” |
| |
|
| (3) |
Abolition of
Diet “sessions” |
| |
|
| (4) |
Reforms of the
House of Representatives |
| |
|
| (5) |
Judicial system
reforms |
|
|
|
|
