FREE ESSAY ON JAPENSE GOVERNMENT

JAPENSE GOVERNMENT

Japanese Government Vs American Government
In this report I will compare and contrast Japans Executive Branch to the American
Executive Branch, such as the Japanese Prime Minister to the American President, and also
some of the other offices of the Cabinet. The Japanese government isn't all that much
different than that of which we Americans have. Both countries have an executive leader,
which is the Japanese Prime Minister, and of course the American President. Both
countries also have a constitution, the Japanese was not written by choice though, but
written under General MacArthur's supervision in 1946 following their surrender in World
War II, when an Occupation Government was also set up for them, most likely not by
choice. Their constitution is almost identical to ours because it states that political
power rests with the people, and also starts out the same as ours by saying; We, the
Japanese People. Both countries have a legislature, which theirs is called the "National
Diet." The two countries have a whole different structure of government. In America we
directly elect our president by a vote through the whole country, which isn't what it is
like in Japan. In Japan it goes through this system; 1st the voters of Japan elect the
Diet, or what we would call the legislature, which consists of the house of
representatives, and the house of counselors. The diet then chooses a Prime Minister, or
president, which the House of Representatives can dismiss him, within a certain reason.
After these processes, the Prime Minister then appoints the Cabinet, which exercises the
executive power in the Central Government. In the diet, there are 512 members of the
House of Representatives, chosen from 130 election districts, with one exception elects
from 3 to 5 representatives. Each voter has one vote, but 3 to 5 candidates who receive
the largest amount of votes are elected, and serve for 4 years unless the parliament is
dissolved before the term expires. The house of Counselors consists of 252 members who
are chosen for 6-year terms, where they most likely will serve their full term. Twelve
members of the cabinet preside over departments or ministries of the government, which
include the ministries of justice, foreign affairs, finance, education, health and
welfare, agriculture and forestry, and labor. The remaining cabinet members are the
so-called "ministers of the state," which include the deputy prime minister and heads of
various agencies such as the economic planning agency and the science and technology
agency. Most of the time a minister will only remain in office for only one year, because
of the high turnover in the cabinet. Bureaucrats provide the diet with the expert
knowledge required for long term planning, which is commonly emphasized in Japan. Japan
has a multiparty system in which one party, the Liberal Democratic Party, has been
dominant since it was founded in 1955. They also have left opposition parties. The
leading opposition party is the Japanese Socialist party that has constantly held more
than 100 seats in the Diet. The second opposition group on the left is the Japanese
communist party, a legal party that has held less than 10 percent of the seats in the
diet. The third and last opposition party is the Komei, or "clean government party." Its
objective is to purify Japanese politics and improve the quality of life in Japan.