Participation in Japanese Democracy: Representation, Collective Action, and Public Policy

The purpose of this session is to examine from various perspectives the current deepening distrust in Japanese Democracy; elections, the Diet, the accompanying activation of social movements, and the changes in public policies. There is. Regarding this theme, we can consider elections, parliaments, the party organizations and interest groups, counter-democracy movements, and current trends in public policy. In particular, this session will focus on four topics: “current status and challenges of parliamentary democracy,” “sovereignty education,” “transformation of party organizations,” and “today's challenges in public policy.” First, Iwasaki points out that while parliamentary democracy in Japan has many similarities with other advanced industrial democracies, it also has Japanese uniqueness. This point is the originality of Japanese-style democracy, and it will be clarified that this is the issue that Japan's democracy faces today. Matsuda theoretically organizes the relationship between elections and social movements as forms of political participation in democracy, and then discusses how these concepts are handled in sovereign education (especially secondary education). The purpose of this study is to examine questions such as whether secondary education is a sovereign education system, what issues can be pointed out in its treatment, and what is the significance of secondary education as education for the sovereign. Asai focuses on the relationship between party organizations and party funding in Japan. The issue of politics and money has presented many problems, but in Japan, the issue of political parties and money has recently become the biggest political issue. Asai empirically analyzes this point. Mita focuses on the factors and significance of the increase female politicians in local governments. Vincent will focus on public policy before and after the pandemic. In particular, employment policy has brought about major changes before and after the pandemic, and Vincent will conduct a comparative analysis of public policy by looking not only at Japan's case, but also at cases in Western countries. Considering these topics together will allow us to squarely face the challenges facing Japan's current democracy. Furthermore, analyzing Japanese politics from a comparative perspective will provide a perspective for thinking about Japan in Asia and Japan in the world.