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Paper short abstract

This presentation analyzes the relationship between electoral system reform and bureaucracy in Japan around the 1960s, focusing on the Electoral System Council. It examines the Ministry of Home Affairs’ involvement in the Council’s establishment and operation and its evaluation of the Council.

Paper long abstract

In Japan in the early 1960s, the need to revise the "process" of electoral system reform itself came to be emphasized, leading to the establishment of the Electoral System Council as a public advisory body. From the 1960s through the early 1970s, the Council was convened intermittently in seven successive rounds and continued deliberations on electoral reform. Thereafter, however, it entered a period of dormancy, and the eighth Council was not convened until the late 1980s.

Although the Electoral System Council was formally established within the Prime Minister’s Office, it was closely connected to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Ministry drafted the legislation that provided the legal basis for the Council and also served as its secretariat, assuming responsibility for its administrative operations. As with other advisory councils, the Ministry was involved in key aspects of the Council’s activities, including the selection of members, the provision of materials for deliberation, and the preparation of specific proposals to be examined by the Council.

Initially, Home Affairs bureaucrats placed considerable expectations on the Electoral System Council. In the late 1950s, electoral system reform had become dysfunctional amid the institutionalization of prior screening procedures and intensified inter-party conflict, leading bureaucrats to regard the Council as a new avenue for reform. Over time, however, these expectations gradually gave way to disappointment. As the Council itself began to fall into dysfunction—stemming from structural problems such as the participation of incumbent legislators and conflicts between academic experts and sitting politicians—Home Affairs bureaucrats became openly critical of the Council and eventually adopted a reluctant stance even toward convening it.

The experience of the Councils convened between the 1960s and the early 1970s was reflected in the eighth Electoral System Council, established in the late 1980s. In this instance, incumbent legislators were excluded from the outset, and deliberations were conducted exclusively by academic experts. As a result, the Council succeeded in producing recommendations that later helped shape the direction of electoral system reform.