Eric Heckman

• Japan policymaking process is consensus decision-making.

• The consensus does not include everyone.

• Decision is made by the objections of the opposition parties and some major interest groups.

• Consensus decision making means to work together to convince for those who are concern to support proposed policy. Actually search for an agreement is part of the leadership but leaders are not in the front line.

• Policy making means to do nothing as some groups cannot agree.

• Consensus decision making can be active, passive or purchased.

• Pluralism is used as highly competitive system of interest groups making in public policy.

• Scandihavian-style corporatism is use as a system of consultation and negotiation the results in policy that certain group can agree.

• Corporatism refers to two different phenomena.

• Microcoporatism involve in national level bargaining among the government, business and labor.

• Sometime it is useful to think of Japan as coporatism without labor.

• Japan ranks are low in Microcoporism.

• Microcoporatism involves in interest groups to develop relations with the government that are different between public and private spheres become vague.

• High proportion of Japanese policy making takes place within the subgovernment made of division of labor democratic Party’s Policy Affairs Research Council. It is a signal ministry or agency involving with in the ministry and a set of interest group.

• Relationship within the sub government looks like microcoporatism.

• A majority of Japan expert are now classified Japan with limited pluralism.

• Muramatsu and krauss differ pluralism in Japan from classical pluralism in which policy is only the outcome of open-ended, competitive lobbying by pressure group on weak government.

• Pluralistic system gives full access to compete and that are involve to give fair degree responsiveness to social interest.

• Prime Minister in parliamentary system is like Britain or Germany but is less powerful than U.S. or French president.

• Prime minister is weak compare to parliamentary system.

• Japanese constitution are similar to British or German Prime Minister.

• If Prime Minister have majority party it would give him the leadership as West European heads state. LDP never give their leader support within the policy package.

• Prime minister enact few new policies but keep balance among factions and play one faction leader off against another tend to last longer than prime minister who try major policy initiatives.

• Prime minister is most important policy maker in Japan.

• Prime minister acts as a broker mediating conflict between other actors in the system in managing the policy process to keep things going.

• Japan has small group of bureaucracy.

• Japan bureaucracy is base on career.

• Every year ministry tends to choose doctors or anyone in public service to serve as bureaucracy.

• Japan only appoint are the ministry are the minister himself and the vice-minister.

• Minister and political vice ministers often change and stay less than two years.

• Bureaucrats oversee the system, make policy agenda and discuss policies that would represent good solutions to the problems.

• Bureaucrats are stronger when politicians are busy with political battles as they are too busy focusing on policymaking.

• Bureaucrats play important role in policymaking. They take small steps before they can make any policy changes. Major legislation is often fails many time before it successfully becomes a law.

• Policy tends to be slow in order to be consistent.

• Bureaucrats are organized around the ministry.

• Japan model of consensual decision making is given the subgovernment more autonomy in policymaking process then it is found in most western country.

• Chief executive finds more difficult to intervene the process of specific policy areas.

• Less big policy with major system-level implications are made because less goes on at the general and national level.

• The are more likely to represent the interest group

• They investigate specific policy and gives advice to the government and sometime they come up with new proposals as a way to send ideas to the public and giving inputs of the interest group.

• No policy can force the law with out being pass by the diet.

• The diet has the final say to the policy.

• Private members propose few bills

• Most bills are propose by the Cabinets

1. Government bills are amended both before and after submission to the Diet.

 

2. When opposition parties were united or when the JSP resolved to fight the LDP. They would often withdraw the bill and do nothing and just wait for the agreement.

 

3. The LDP would make a deal and exchange favors for each other in order to get things through.

• LDP’s Policy Affairs Research Council (PARC) is part of the third house of parliament. The chairmanship of the PARC is the same as the Diet committee but they are not as powerful as the

• The media has the power of zoku.

• Zoku politicians plays a positive role in policymaking process, they find the agreement to the policies and gets strong support.

• Zoku is under the coalition of the governments and after there a political reform the topic is deeply discussed in Japan.

• Japan media and varies reformers try to prevent politicians and bureaucrats from being involve in policymaking.