Japan Government

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.