Japan is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary
government. The country's constitution was made on May
3, 1947 right when the U.S. took control of Japan following
World War II. Under the constitution, Japan has "universal
adult suffrage" with a secret ballot for all elective
offices. Which basically means that all legal adults
in the country can vote privately. Just like the U.S.
their government is made up of an executive branch responsible
to the legislative branch and an independent judicial
branch.
The national parliament, a.k.a "The Diet", is made up
of (somewhat like the U.S.) two houses: a House of Representatives
(lower house) of 500 members and a House of Councilors
(upper house) of 252 members. Executive power is given
to a cabinet made up of a prime minister and ministers
of state. Although, all of those prime ministers and
ministers of state have to be civilians. The prime minister
must be a member of "The Diet", usually in the House
of Representatives, and is chosen by his others in that
house. The prime minister has the power to appoint and
remove ministers, and mostly all have to be Diet members.
Japan's judicial system, which, again, is based off
of the U.S. traditions, consists of several levels of
courts, and the Supreme Court is the "final judicial
authority" or the court that has the last word in any
judicial issue. The constitution includes a bill of
rights similar to the United States Bill of Rights,
and the Supreme Court has the right of "judicial review".
Japanese courts do not employ a jury, and there are
no administrative courts or claims courts like we have
in the U.S. Court decisions are made with "legal statutes";
only Supreme Court decisions have any direct effect
on later issues of the law.
In the lower house of the Diet, 300 members are elected
in single-member districts and another 200 members are
elected on equally in 11 regions of the country. Lower
house members serve for four years, or until the prime
minister changes the Diet, basically, whichever comes
first. In the upper house, 152 members are elected in
regional districts, while 100 are elected in nation-wide
balloting. Upper house members serve for six years.
The lower house is the more powerful of the two parliamentary
houses. If the upper and lower houses can't agree on
the choice of prime minister, the lower house takes
charge, and budgets and treaties can be passed only
with action by the lower house.
Japan is a multiparty democracy that has experienced
great stability in the postwar period. From 1955 until
1993, the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
ruled Japan without interruption. During that period,
the main opposition party in the Diet was the Japan
Socialist Party (JSP), which relied heavily on Japan's
labor unions for support, and which in recent years
has experienced a sharp decline in popularity.
In 1993, a multiparty "alliance" took control without
the LDP. However, the LDP was returned to power in June
1994 in an unpredictable "alliance" with the JSP and
a small party, the Sakigake. In January, 1995 the LDP
reclaimed the prime minister's chair, when Ryutaro Hashimoto
replaced his JSP alliance partner, Tomiichi Murayama.
Currently the largest parties in the parliament are
the New Frontier Party and the Democratic Party of Japan,
formed in 1996; all political parties except the Japan
Communist Party (JCP) support the security alliance
between the United States and Japan
Out Line of Japan¨s Local Government System:
- 1.Roles of Local Government
- 1-1. Most familiar day to day public services
in Japan are the responsibility of local government
These include:
- , family and resident registration
- , building and management of daycare centers,
kindergartens, schools, libraries, public halls
and similar facilities construction
- , maintenance and management of refuse and sewage
disposal facilities, water supply and sewage works
- , development and improvement of roads and parks
- , police and fire fighting services
- 1-2. Local government plays a significant
role in the growth of society as a whole, as
well as in the stability and improvement of
people¨s daily lives
- 2.The Tiers of Local Government
- 2-1. In Japan, local government is two-tiered:
- , prefectures serving wider areas
- , municipalities providing local services
- 2-2. There are 47 prefectures in Japan
- 2-3. Each prefecture¨s populations and area
- 2-4. Each prefecture has many municipalities
- 2-5. For instance, there are 212 municipalities
in Hokkaido Prefecture and 52 municipalities
in Okinawa Prefecture
- 3.Importance of Local Finance
in Japan
3-1. The figure below shows how large public finance
is
- The ratio of local public finance to gross
domestic expenditure is 13.3%, which is about
three times larger than the ratio of the central
government.
- Local government¨s role is so important
that many young people apply to become public
servants each year
- 4.Distribution of Administrative
Affairs
4-1. ational Government, Prefectural Government and
Municipal Government share administrative responsibilities
with one another
4-2. Municipal Government provides various public and
social services which form the basis of community life;
in other words, Municipal Government is the closest
basic Government is the closest basic public entity
to community residents
4-3. Its services include the construction, improvement
and management of schools, water and sewage facilities,
social programs such as public ?assistance and child
welfare, as well as family and citizen registration.
4-4. Compared to Municipal, Government is responsible
for a wider range of public services
4.-5. It is also responsible for liaisons between National
and Municipal Government and provides support and guidance
to Municipal Government
- 5.The Organization of Local
Government
5-1. Local government in Japan operates according to
the chief executive system which is almost the same
as the presidential system
5-2. The chief executive is directly elected by the
people and enjoys equal status with the assembly, whose
members are also directly elected by the people.
5-3. The assembly and the chief executive thus go about
the job of administration thus go about the job of administration
while placing checks on and reaching compromises with
one another, ensuring that government is conducted in
a fair, unbiased fashion that faithfully reflects the
will of the people.
5-4. The chief executive of the Prefectures and Municipalities
is called Gocernor and Mayor respectively.
- 6.Local Government Finances
6-1. Revenue:
The Financial Structure of Local Government (fiscal
2000)
Total Revenue for All Local Public Entities
- Local public entities had a total revenue of
100 trillion 275.1 billion during fiscal 2000.
- Of this, 35.4% came from local taxes 21.7% from
local allocation tax, 14.4 from national treasury
disbursements and 11.1% from local government bonds.
6-2. The local allocation tax
- , The local allocation tax consists
of tax transfers to local public entities
that are unable to cover their financial
needs from local taxes alone
- , Local allocation tax is distributed
in proportion to the amount of the local
public entity¨s financial shortfalls
- , This amounts to 32% of estimated
revenue from the national income tax
and liquor tax, 35.8% of estimated revenue
from corporation tax, 29.5% of estimated
revenue from consumption tax, and 25%
of estimated revenue from tobacco tax.
- , In this way local public entities
are guaranteed the financial resources
necessary to maintain services at a
certain level, and adjustments are made
to the financial capabilities between
local governments.
- , National treasury disbursements
are made to local public entities by
national government to defray the cost
of specific works.
- , Uses of local taxes and the local
allocation tax are not specified.
- , It is extremely important for
local governments to secure general
revenue resources in order to respond
properly to various administrative needs.
- , Local government bonds are long-term
loans taken out by local public entities
from banks and other institutions, mainly
to cover the cost of constructing large-scale
facilities.
- , In addition, local governments
have other sources of revenue such as
users¨ fees, service charges and income
from property.
6-3. Expenditure
- , Local governments spent a total of 97 trillion
616.4 billion during fiscal 2000.
- , Of this amount, 20.0% went to civil engineering
works (upkeep of roads and rivers, etc.), 18.5%
to education (schools, etc). 13.7% to welfare (social
welfare, etc).12.7% to servicing public debt (for
paying off the principal and interest on local government
bonds), and 9.4% to general administration.
- , The cost of servicing this debt is increasing
year-by-year, mainly due to the large number of
local bonds issued for economic countermeasures,
since fiscal 1992.
- , It will therefore be necessary to overcome
this dependence on loans as soon as possible and
maintain a sound system of financial management
to provide a base for implementing and promoting
future programs.