Background to the bureaucracy-centred policymaking system in Japan

The bureaucracy has been the primary vehicle for policy analysis and the policymaking process of Japan since the Meiji Restoration. While there have been numerous changes in Japan's domestic political landscape since the Second World War, the end of the 1955 system and other events, there has not been a major change to this policymaking process. While there have been some attempts in the past to alter this bureaucracycentred mechanism, changes thus far have been very incremental and nothing dramatic.

The following is a list of major characteristics associated with the policymaking process in Japan:

• • policy is initiated by the central government/administration;

• • the ruling party (or coalition) that forms the cabinet is heavily dependent on the administration;

• • the legislative body remains weak as it functions merely as a place to pass bills; and

• • public opinion is collected mainly by the bureaucracy, which has not functioned properly in recent times.

With these characteristics in mind, it is important to understand what kind of role political parties play in Japan's policymaking process.

Political parties’ limited role in Japan's policymaking process

It is often said that Japan's policymaking process has long been bureaucratised, that is, the bureaucracy has penetrated Japan's policymaking process and consequently led to the decline in the role of the Diet as an independent legislative organ in post-war Japanese politics. Simply put, the bureaucracy mainly collects information on policy, analyses it and makes policy ideas and bills. The ruling party then discusses policy drafts and bills based on the aforementioned policy ideas, often referring to voices and opinions from various people/organisations, such as party members, supporters, voters, supporting groups/organisations and other concerned parties. It then makes bills within the party with strong support from the bureaucracy, based on discussion and adjusting them with the other parties forming the cabinet before submission to the Diet.

As demonstrated by the aforementioned process, the bureaucracy remains a dominant force in Japan's policymaking process as it is the main vehicle for conducting preliminary policy analysis and then creating policy drafts thereafter.