FREE ESSAY ON THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN

THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN

Japan is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government. The country's
constitution was made on May 3, 1947 right when the U.S. took control of Japan following
World War II. Under the constitution, Japan has universal adult suffrage with a secret
ballot for all elective offices. Which basically means that all legal adults in the
country can vote privately. Just like the U.S. their government is made up of an
executive branch responsible to the legislative branch and an independent judicial
branch.
The national parliament, a.k.a The Diet, is made up of (somewhat like the U.S.) two
houses: a House of Representatives (lower house) of 500 members and a House of
Councillors (upper house) of 252 members. Executive power is given to a cabinet made up
of a prime minister and ministers of state. Although, all of those prime ministers and
ministers of state have to be civilians. The prime minister must be a member of The Diet,
usually in the House of Representatives, and is chosen by his others in that house. The
prime minister has the power to appoint and remove ministers, and mostly all have have to
be Diet members.
Japan's judicial system, which, again, is based off of the U.S.traditions, consists of
several levels of courts, and the Supreme Court is the final judicial authority or the
court that has the last word in any judicial issue. The constitution includes a bill of
rights similar to the United States Bill of Rights, and the Supreme Court has the right
of judicial review. Japanese courts do not employ a jury, and there are no administrative
courts or claims courts like we have in the U.S. Court decisions are made with legal
statutes; only Supreme Court decisions have any direct effect on later issues of the
law.
Japan does not have a federal system. It mostly depends heavily on the central government
for help. Governors of regions in Japan(like the 50 states in the U.S.), mayors of large
cities or towns, and state and city wide assembly members are popularly elected for
four-year terms.
In the lower house of the Diet, 300 members are elected in single-member districts and
another 200 members are elected on equally in 11 regions of the country. Lower house
members serve for four years, or until the prime minister changes the Diet, basically,
whichever comes first. In the upper house, 152 members are elected in regional districts,
while 100 are elected in nation-wide balloting. Upper house members serve for six years.
The lower house is the more powerful of the two parliamentary houses. If the upper and
lower houses cant agree on the choice of prime minister, the lower house takes charge,
and budgets and treaties can be passed only with action by the lower house.
Japan is a multiparty democracy that has experienced great stability in the postwar
period. From 1955 until 1993, the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ruled Japan
without interruption. During that period, the main opposition party in the Diet was the
Japan Socialist Party (JSP), which relied heavily on Japan's labor unions for support,
and which in recent years has experienced a sharp decline in popularity. 
In 1993, a multiparty alliance took control without the LDP. However, the LDP was
returned to power in June 1994 in an unpredictable alliance with the JSP and a small
party, the Sakigake. In January, 1995 the LDP reclaimed the prime minister's chair, when
Ryutaro Hashimoto replaced his JSP alliance partner, Tomiichi Murayama. Currently the
largest parties in the parliament are the New Frontier Party and the Democratic Party of
Japan, formed in 1996; all political parties except the Japan Communist Party (JCP)
support the security alliance between the United States and Japan.