THE JAPANESE LAWMAKING PROCESS

The traditional Japanese lawmaking process is shaped by Bureaucratic-Lead Politics (BLP). The government ministries and their bureaucrats originate, research, vet and write most Japanese legislation. They monopolize both the information and agenda.

Typically, ministries create a commission of inquiry composed of experts. The commission issues a report of its findings back to the ministry which then drafts the law. After this, the bill goes to the Cabinet Legislation Bureau for a review of its language and consistency with other Japanese laws. After approval by the Cabinet Legislation Bureau, ministry officials discuss the law with the ruling party officials. Upon approval, the bill is discussed among the Administrative Vice Ministers and then is submitted to the Cabinet for approval which then sends it to the Diet. Thus a proposed bill comes under great scrutiny and is thoroughly vetted before it reaches the floor of the diet.   By implication, the bureaucrats are also in charge of drafting and administering the accompanying regulations. This system tends to reinforce ministerial vested interests and bureaucratic power. The politicians’ role comes in at the end of the legislative process. Only 20 percent of legislation adopted in the Japanese Diet is proposed by Members of the Diet, while 80 percent is proposed by the Cabinet. The bureaucrat always has to take into account the ruling party’s interests and positions . Politicians, further tend to vote straight party line. Bureaucratic coordination with senior ruling party members is thus critical.

Members of the Diet submit bills only under special circumstances that include direct relevance to the Diet, a Member’s constituency or a personal interest.

All this means that lobbying must take place at the ministerial level, especially with department deputy directors who are tasked with the primary law drafting. With promotions within a Ministry dependent upon one’s involvement in the lawmaking process, bureaucrats are particularly motivated to be involved in the process. The result is that Japanese bureaucrats possess specialized skills and knowledge about policy drafting and issues. The downside of the process is that it is time consuming and cumbersome. There are simply some issues better handled quickly and with more political sensitivity by Diet member-initiated laws.

One of the problems that Japan has in giving politicians more power over the policy process is that politicians do not have the kinds of staff support that they have for example in the United States. And political parties don’t have the kind of staff support that they have in countries like Britain, Germany and other countries in Europe, where individual politicians generally don’t have large staff but the political parties do and are able to draft legislation and help their members engage directly in the political process.