Still Much Too Weak
NAOKI TANAKA
President
Center for International Public Policy Studies
Naoki Tanaka, Ph.D., is Japan’s leading economic advisor, serving both the business community and the highest levels of government. A decade ago, he helped to create the 21st Century Public Policy Institute established by Nippon Keidanren (the Japan Business Federation) and served as its first president. Among his numerous government-related positions, he is best known for his work as a special economic advisor to former PM Junichiro Koizumi, acting as one of the lead architects of Koizumi’s landmark postal system reform. Tanaka is the author of many books and the recipient of the prestigious Yoshino Sakuzo Prize and Ishibashi Tanzan Prize. He is a graduate of the University of Tokyo with a doctorate in economics.
The year 2007 will likely be remembered as revealing the fragility of the power base supporting Japan’s political leaders. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s abrupt resignation in September was followed just two months later by Ichiro Ozawa’s sudden announcement that he would resign as president of the Democratic Party. The common factor here is that both of these leaders suffered from a critical lack of support; both lacked a broad base of supporters whom they could count on to back up their policies.
It has certainly been true in the U.S. that lame-duck presidents gradually lose their support. However, the recent resignations in Japan were anything but lame ducks. Prime Minister Abe had only taken office a year earlier, and Ozawa was the head of the leading opposing party; many expected him to come to power in the very near future. Does this point to a fundamental problem in the framework of support for Japanese democratic politics?
Viewed from the perspective of financial support by taxpayers, Japanese are certainly not indifferent to politics. At the beginning of the 21st century, there were more than 70,000 politicians holding posts throughout the nation’s regional governments, all of them guaranteed salaries and upper-middle-class status. At the national level, members of the National Diet have benefited from the public expenditure system completed in the latter half of the 1990s. All political parties in Japan, with the exception of the Japan Communist Party, have received political funding in proportion to the number of Diet members belonging to that party. Thanks to this financial backup, Japan has never lacked candidates for office, and this foundation should have provided a solid personal network to support Japan’s political leaders.
However, it has become apparent that neither the ample numbers of regional politicians nor the substantial budget allocations to political parties have helped to invigorate the Japanese political scene. What we’re talking about here is not support systems, but the involvement of individuals in the public decision-making process. When grass-roots participation is lacking, even the most powerful political leaders will have difficulty making crucial decisions and can easily find themselves confused and unsure of what to do. Abe and Ozawa have shown us just how true this is.
Every one of the Japanese people took part in politics during World War II—they had little choice but blind obedience to military leadership, and their participation resulted in absolute misery. After the war, with the slogan of building a peaceful world order, Japan wanted to clearly show its positive attitude toward participating in international society, but under the Cold War system in which the U.S. acted as the de facto leader for the entire Western bloc, Japan had no choice but to accept the assumption that following the U.S. would be best for its own national security.
This post-war framework prevented Japan from acquiring much experience in public decision-making, either at home or abroad. At best, it barely managed to play its role in sharing the costs of security activities. This situation persisted for more than 60 years from the end of the war and still continues today. The basic framework for public decision-making remains weak and immature, which ultimately results in scenes such as the recent startling announcements of two leading politicians.
In 2008, CIPPS (the Center for International Public Policy Studies) is entering its second year of operation. Our two main themes are researching the reengagement of Japan’s political framework, both at home and abroad, and reorganizing Japanese society. With the percentage of elderly population increasing rapidly and overall population growth about to decline, there is little time left to deal with the extremely difficult issue of building a new framework for public policies. At CIPPS, we see 2008 as a year to meet this challenge head on.