Consensus-Building
#24Key Findings
Japan performs relatively poorly (rank 24) in the category of consensus-building.
Academics are involved as members of various advisory bodies on both the cabinet and ministerial levels. However, the selection of academics is politicized, and scholars who disagree with ministry positions are sometimes removed.
Large corporations wield significant influence over policymaking, with chairpersons often invited to cabinet advisory bodies. Trade unions have less influence than in the past, but have recently increased contacts with the government.
Most social welfare and environmental civil society organizations have limited policy outreach and little presence within cabinet advisory bodies. The government discloses considerable quantities of data in a timely manner, but this data is frequently made available in difficult-to-use formats.
Academics are involved as members of various advisory bodies on both the cabinet and ministerial levels. However, the selection of academics is politicized, and scholars who disagree with ministry positions are sometimes removed.
Large corporations wield significant influence over policymaking, with chairpersons often invited to cabinet advisory bodies. Trade unions have less influence than in the past, but have recently increased contacts with the government.
Most social welfare and environmental civil society organizations have limited policy outreach and little presence within cabinet advisory bodies. The government discloses considerable quantities of data in a timely manner, but this data is frequently made available in difficult-to-use formats.
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To what extent is the government successful in effectively harnessing the best available scientific knowledge for policymaking purposes?
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The government is able to harness the best available scientific knowledge for policymaking purposes.
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In most cases, the government is able to harness the best available scientific knowledge for policymaking purposes.
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Only rarely is the government able to harness the best available scientific knowledge for policymaking purposes.
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The government is not able to harness the best available scientific knowledge for policymaking purposes.
Increasing the role of scientific advice has been a topic in Japanese politics for some time and has been highlighted by the experience of the Fukushima triple disaster. Since 2001, the cabinet has been advised by the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, of which half the members are academics. The council supports the government in formulating policy and can be consulted by cabinet members on any question regarding science and technology. It is also involved in supporting cross-ministerial coordination and initiatives related to science and technology. In 2011, the government announced it would seek to consult scientists more frequently. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Japanese government relied, as did many other countries, on the advice of a select number of experts who rose to public prominence. Initially, however, the Japanese government withheld information from the public and thus did not fully disclose the basis on which policies were decided (V-Dem).
Academics are involved as members of various advisory bodies both on the cabinet and ministerial levels. Their selection, however, is traditionally heavily influenced by the vested interests of different institutional players. On the ministerial level, advisory councils (shingikai) have been criticized as mere rubber-stamping institutions meant to legitimize decisions already made by bureaucrats that reflect the interests of the ministry involved. Advisory councils’ secretariats, run by ministry officials, have strong influence on the selection of members, choice of topics for discussion, as well as the drafting of proceedings and reports, which decreases overall transparency. Moreover, scholars who disagree with the ministry stance have occasionally been removed from the councils.
Instructive in this respect is Japan’s energy and climate change policy. After Fukushima, the government initially pledged to abolish the “nuclear village” of bureaucrats, politicians and industry, which had dominated energy policymaking, and replace nuclear power with renewables. When the LDP returned to government in 2012, it professionalized the oversight of the nuclear industry by setting up an independent regulatory body. However, it also backtracked on some of the commitments of the previous government to cut emissions due to political considerations as it emphasized economic growth over climate policy.
The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy has been considered the most powerful permanent advisory body to the cabinet, as it has drafted the policy guidelines for fiscal and economic management, as well as budget formulation. However, only one of its four private-sector members is an academic. Individual prime ministers often establish separate advisory councils dealing with the priority policies of their governments. Among the members of the Council of New Form of Capitalism Realization, established by Prime Minister Kishida in October 2021, university professors assumed only three of 16 posts. While big business representatives dominate in advisory bodies related to the economy, individual academics such as Takenaka Heizô under the Koizumi government (2001 – 2006) or Hamada Kôichi and Honda Etsurô under the second Abe government (2012 – 2020) occasionally exert strong influence over the government’s economic strategy. Rarely, they are even nominated as ministers.
The government’s initiatives occasionally encounter criticism from academia. For instance, in 2015, a vast majority of constitutional scholars, including some of those summoned to the parliament by the ruling parties, admitted that the legalization of self-defense by the Abe government violated the Japanese constitution.
Citations:
Arimoto, Tateo, and Yasushi Sato. 2012. “Rebuilding Public Trust in Science for Policymaking.” Science 337 (6099): 1176-1177.
Kameyama, Yasuko. 2016. Climate Change Policy in Japan. From the 1980s to 2015. London: Routledge.
Nonaka, Naoto, and Haruka Aoki. 2016. Seisaku Kaigi to Tôron naki Kokkai. Kantei Shudô Taisei no Seiritsu to Kôtai Suru Jukugi [Policy Councils and the Diet Without Debates. Deliberation on the Establishment and Demise of the Kantei Leadership System]. Tokyo: Asahi Shinbun Shuppan.
Varieties of Democracy Project. 2020–2021. “Pandemic Backsliding: Democracy during COVID-19.” https://www.v-dem.net/pandem.html
Academics are involved as members of various advisory bodies both on the cabinet and ministerial levels. Their selection, however, is traditionally heavily influenced by the vested interests of different institutional players. On the ministerial level, advisory councils (shingikai) have been criticized as mere rubber-stamping institutions meant to legitimize decisions already made by bureaucrats that reflect the interests of the ministry involved. Advisory councils’ secretariats, run by ministry officials, have strong influence on the selection of members, choice of topics for discussion, as well as the drafting of proceedings and reports, which decreases overall transparency. Moreover, scholars who disagree with the ministry stance have occasionally been removed from the councils.
Instructive in this respect is Japan’s energy and climate change policy. After Fukushima, the government initially pledged to abolish the “nuclear village” of bureaucrats, politicians and industry, which had dominated energy policymaking, and replace nuclear power with renewables. When the LDP returned to government in 2012, it professionalized the oversight of the nuclear industry by setting up an independent regulatory body. However, it also backtracked on some of the commitments of the previous government to cut emissions due to political considerations as it emphasized economic growth over climate policy.
The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy has been considered the most powerful permanent advisory body to the cabinet, as it has drafted the policy guidelines for fiscal and economic management, as well as budget formulation. However, only one of its four private-sector members is an academic. Individual prime ministers often establish separate advisory councils dealing with the priority policies of their governments. Among the members of the Council of New Form of Capitalism Realization, established by Prime Minister Kishida in October 2021, university professors assumed only three of 16 posts. While big business representatives dominate in advisory bodies related to the economy, individual academics such as Takenaka Heizô under the Koizumi government (2001 – 2006) or Hamada Kôichi and Honda Etsurô under the second Abe government (2012 – 2020) occasionally exert strong influence over the government’s economic strategy. Rarely, they are even nominated as ministers.
The government’s initiatives occasionally encounter criticism from academia. For instance, in 2015, a vast majority of constitutional scholars, including some of those summoned to the parliament by the ruling parties, admitted that the legalization of self-defense by the Abe government violated the Japanese constitution.
Citations:
Arimoto, Tateo, and Yasushi Sato. 2012. “Rebuilding Public Trust in Science for Policymaking.” Science 337 (6099): 1176-1177.
Kameyama, Yasuko. 2016. Climate Change Policy in Japan. From the 1980s to 2015. London: Routledge.
Nonaka, Naoto, and Haruka Aoki. 2016. Seisaku Kaigi to Tôron naki Kokkai. Kantei Shudô Taisei no Seiritsu to Kôtai Suru Jukugi [Policy Councils and the Diet Without Debates. Deliberation on the Establishment and Demise of the Kantei Leadership System]. Tokyo: Asahi Shinbun Shuppan.
Varieties of Democracy Project. 2020–2021. “Pandemic Backsliding: Democracy during COVID-19.” https://www.v-dem.net/pandem.html
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To what extent does the government facilitate the participation of trade unions and business organizations in policymaking?
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The government is able to effectively involve trade unions and business organizations in policy development.
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Most of the time, the government is able to effectively involve trade unions and business organizations in policy development.
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The government is rarely able to effectively involve trade unions and business organizations in policy development.
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The government is not able to effectively involve trade unions and business organizations in policy development.
Big businesses involved in the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Japan Association of Corporate Executives are engaged in planning policies. The chairpersons of big corporations are often invited to cabinet advisory bodies, and dominate among private-sector experts of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, which prepares fiscal and economic policy guidelines and basic rules for budget compilation. The actual influence of capital organizations on policy decisions, however, is largely dependent on the position of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in decision-making. While Prime Minister Abe heavily relied on METI bureaucrats, Prime Minister Kishida represents a more balanced interministerial approach.
Trade union representatives as well as organized business have been taking part in advisory councils in the field of labor market policy at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for decades. Until the 1990s, this was understood to resemble a veto right on many aspects of labor regulation. With the advent of cabinet-level councils in the 1990s and 2000s – to which trade unions were not invited or held a minority position – the influence of unions has waned somewhat, and policymaking has largely moved to the cabinet level, with organized business remaining influential. On the other hand, Prime Minister Kishida’s agenda of improving redistribution of wealth and the concept of growth based on domestic demand (so-called new capitalism) has made union demands for higher wages attractive even to LDP governments. Rengô has intensified contacts with the government and Rengô Chairperson Yoshino Tomoko is currently a member of the key cabinet advisory organ, which is composed mostly of CEOs from big corporations. In June 2023, the council issued the revised Grand Design and Action Plan for a New Form of Capitalism, which includes a range of labor market reforms, such as support for reskilling, the introduction of job-based wages tailored to individual company conditions and the facilitation of labor mobility to growth industries.
Citations:
Cabinet Secretariat. 2023. “Grand Design and Action Plan for a New Form of Capitalism: 2023 Revised Version.” https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/atarashii_sihonsyugi/pdf/ap2023en.pdf
OECD. 2021. “Main Indicators and Characteristics of Collective Bargaining.” https://www.oecd.org/employment/collective-bargaining-database-japan.pdf
Trade union representatives as well as organized business have been taking part in advisory councils in the field of labor market policy at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for decades. Until the 1990s, this was understood to resemble a veto right on many aspects of labor regulation. With the advent of cabinet-level councils in the 1990s and 2000s – to which trade unions were not invited or held a minority position – the influence of unions has waned somewhat, and policymaking has largely moved to the cabinet level, with organized business remaining influential. On the other hand, Prime Minister Kishida’s agenda of improving redistribution of wealth and the concept of growth based on domestic demand (so-called new capitalism) has made union demands for higher wages attractive even to LDP governments. Rengô has intensified contacts with the government and Rengô Chairperson Yoshino Tomoko is currently a member of the key cabinet advisory organ, which is composed mostly of CEOs from big corporations. In June 2023, the council issued the revised Grand Design and Action Plan for a New Form of Capitalism, which includes a range of labor market reforms, such as support for reskilling, the introduction of job-based wages tailored to individual company conditions and the facilitation of labor mobility to growth industries.
Citations:
Cabinet Secretariat. 2023. “Grand Design and Action Plan for a New Form of Capitalism: 2023 Revised Version.” https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/atarashii_sihonsyugi/pdf/ap2023en.pdf
OECD. 2021. “Main Indicators and Characteristics of Collective Bargaining.” https://www.oecd.org/employment/collective-bargaining-database-japan.pdf
To what extent does the government facilitate the participation of leading social welfare CSOs in policymaking?
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The government is able to effectively involve leading social welfare CSOs in policy development.
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Most of the time, the government is able to effectively involve leading social welfare CSOs in policy development.
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The government is rarely able to effectively involve leading social welfare CSOs in policy development.
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The government is not able to effectively involve leading social welfare CSOs in policy development.
Most welfare civil society organizations are small in size and limited in their policy outreach. Often, they cooperate closely with state institutions and focus on providing specific services rather than representing specific interests. As a result, their representatives are rarely invited to cabinet advisory bodies. Moreover, despite the large number of pensioners, they cannot be considered a powerful lobby group. The public pension insurance is reviewed every five years by experts on actuarial grounds. This leads to technocratic adjustments of pension benefits and contributions, which affect millions of citizens. On the other hand, public hearings create an opportunity for NGO representatives to express their opinions on issues such as the social security system.
According to the revised Grand Design and Action Plan for a New Form of Capitalism, issued in June 2023, the Kishida cabinet plans to utilize public-private partnership platforms to expand governmental support for NGOs working to solve local social issues. This aligns with previous policy to limit public spending by encouraging volunteering and non-state provision of services. Particular emphasis is put on cooperation with organizations that address loneliness and isolation, and promote human resources in rural areas and cities.
In February 2022, the Public-Private Collaboration Platform to Combat Loneliness and Isolation was established under the Cabinet Secretariat to encourage cooperation among more than 150 organizations in the field. There were no representatives of social welfare NGOs in the Experts’ Council for the Promotion of Measures for Loneliness and Isolation, which is composed exclusively of university professors. Ten meetings of the Forum on Loneliness and Isolation were held in 2021 to hear the opinions of NGOs, which were partly reflected in government policy.
Citations:
Cabinet Secretariat. 2023. “Grand Design and Action Plan for a New Form of Capitalism: 2023 Revised Version.” https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/atarashii_sihonsyugi/pdf/ap2023en.pdf
Cabinet Secretariat. “Kodoku Koritsu Taisaku Kanmin Renkei Purattofômu” [Public-Private Collaboration Platform to Combat Loneliness and Isolation]. https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/kodoku_koritsu_platform/index.html
Shinkawa, Toshimitsu. “The Politics of Pension Reform in Japan: Institutional Legacies, Credit-Claiming and Blame Avoidance.” In Ageing and Pension Reform Around the World: Evidence from 11 Countries, eds. Giuliano Bonoli and Toshimitsu Shinkawa, 157-181. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
According to the revised Grand Design and Action Plan for a New Form of Capitalism, issued in June 2023, the Kishida cabinet plans to utilize public-private partnership platforms to expand governmental support for NGOs working to solve local social issues. This aligns with previous policy to limit public spending by encouraging volunteering and non-state provision of services. Particular emphasis is put on cooperation with organizations that address loneliness and isolation, and promote human resources in rural areas and cities.
In February 2022, the Public-Private Collaboration Platform to Combat Loneliness and Isolation was established under the Cabinet Secretariat to encourage cooperation among more than 150 organizations in the field. There were no representatives of social welfare NGOs in the Experts’ Council for the Promotion of Measures for Loneliness and Isolation, which is composed exclusively of university professors. Ten meetings of the Forum on Loneliness and Isolation were held in 2021 to hear the opinions of NGOs, which were partly reflected in government policy.
Citations:
Cabinet Secretariat. 2023. “Grand Design and Action Plan for a New Form of Capitalism: 2023 Revised Version.” https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/atarashii_sihonsyugi/pdf/ap2023en.pdf
Cabinet Secretariat. “Kodoku Koritsu Taisaku Kanmin Renkei Purattofômu” [Public-Private Collaboration Platform to Combat Loneliness and Isolation]. https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/kodoku_koritsu_platform/index.html
Shinkawa, Toshimitsu. “The Politics of Pension Reform in Japan: Institutional Legacies, Credit-Claiming and Blame Avoidance.” In Ageing and Pension Reform Around the World: Evidence from 11 Countries, eds. Giuliano Bonoli and Toshimitsu Shinkawa, 157-181. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
To what extent does the government facilitate the participation of leading environmental CSOs in policymaking?
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The government is able to effectively involve leading environmental CSOs in policy development.
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Most of the time, the government is able to effectively involve leading environmental CSOs in policy development.
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The government is rarely able to effectively involve leading environmental CSOs in policy development.
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The government is not able to effectively involve leading environmental CSOs in policy development.
Environmental civil society organizations in Japan suffer from similar organizational limitations as in other areas. Most are locally based, have only limited outreach potential and seem preoccupied with promoting specific policies. Several advisory councils under the Cabinet Secretariat deal with environmental issues, such as the Expert Council for Promotion of Climate Change Countermeasures or the Expert Panel on Clean Energy Strategy. However, private-sector members of these bodies are almost exclusively scholars and CEOs of big corporations, not representatives of environmental NGOs. Civil society groups are also rarely represented in the advisory councils established by the Ministry of the Environment. NGOs are consulted by the ministerial Nature Restoration Council, though mainly on the regional level. Overall, the influence of civil society groups on governmental policy – for example, regarding global warming – has remained minimal.
The government’s reluctance to extensively consult civil society organizations probably results from its intention to contain dissenting voices. Many NGOs specializing in environmental issues remain rather critical of and distant from the government, mainly due to the reactivation of nuclear power plants and slow progress on decarbonization. As a result, impartiality, transparency and the scope of the consultation process is disturbed.
Citations:
Kameyama, Yasuko. 2016. Climate Change Policy in Japan: From the 1980s to 2015. London: Routledge.
Ministry of the Environment. 2020. “Shizen Saisei Kyôgikai” [Nature Restoration Council]. https://www.env.go.jp/nature/saisei/tebiki_k/guide-saisei_2-1.html
The government’s reluctance to extensively consult civil society organizations probably results from its intention to contain dissenting voices. Many NGOs specializing in environmental issues remain rather critical of and distant from the government, mainly due to the reactivation of nuclear power plants and slow progress on decarbonization. As a result, impartiality, transparency and the scope of the consultation process is disturbed.
Citations:
Kameyama, Yasuko. 2016. Climate Change Policy in Japan: From the 1980s to 2015. London: Routledge.
Ministry of the Environment. 2020. “Shizen Saisei Kyôgikai” [Nature Restoration Council]. https://www.env.go.jp/nature/saisei/tebiki_k/guide-saisei_2-1.html
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To what extent does the government publish data and information that empowers citizens to hold the government accountable?
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The government publishes data and information in a manner that empowers citizens to hold the government accountable.
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Most of the time, the government publishes data and information in a manner that empowers citizens to hold the government accountable.
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The government rarely publishes data and information in a manner that strengthens citizens to hold the government accountable.
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The government does not publish data and information in a manner that strengthens citizens’ capacity to hold the government accountable.
A lot of government data in Japan is disclosed in a timely manner. Japan performed well in the OECD’s 2019 Open, Useful and Re-usable Data (OURdata) Index, particularly in terms of data availability. Data accessibility was evaluated as average among OECD states, as many datasets are still provided in non-machine-readable or proprietary formats.
While not all data is comparable across different regions and administrative levels, the government has been working on unified standards. In June 2021, the National Strategy Office of IT under the Cabinet Secretariat specified 19 data types in six fields (i.e., person, enterprise, land, facility, law and others) to establish mechanisms for base registries by 2025 and complete the dataset by 2030. Since September 2021, the digitalization of open data has been managed by the Digital Agency. So far, however, the agency has focused mainly on the digitalization of public services. The agency has also been developing the details of the Data Free Flows with Trust concept, proposed by Japan during the G20 summit in Osaka in 2019. The aim of this initiative is to create international standards, guidelines and technologies for the cross-border flow of personal and non-personal data.
Japan systematically stores previous versions of government websites through WebArchive. The National Diet Library is a useful resource for the public and scholars, and even allows public users (with limitations) to commission research by NDL staff. The minutes of all advisory council meetings and all accompanying materials have been made public since 2001 and can be searched online.
Citations:
Digital Agency. 2023. “Overview of DFFT.” https://www.digital.go.jp/en/dfft-overview-en
National Strategy Office of IT. 2021. “National Data Strategy.” https://www.digital.go.jp/assets/contents/node/basic_page/field_ref_resources/0f321c23-517f-439e-9076-5804f0a24b59/20210901_en_05.pdf
OECD. 2020. “Open, Useful and Re-usable data (OURdata) Index: 2019.” https://www.oecd.org/governance/digital-government/ourdata-index-policy-paper-2020.pdf
While not all data is comparable across different regions and administrative levels, the government has been working on unified standards. In June 2021, the National Strategy Office of IT under the Cabinet Secretariat specified 19 data types in six fields (i.e., person, enterprise, land, facility, law and others) to establish mechanisms for base registries by 2025 and complete the dataset by 2030. Since September 2021, the digitalization of open data has been managed by the Digital Agency. So far, however, the agency has focused mainly on the digitalization of public services. The agency has also been developing the details of the Data Free Flows with Trust concept, proposed by Japan during the G20 summit in Osaka in 2019. The aim of this initiative is to create international standards, guidelines and technologies for the cross-border flow of personal and non-personal data.
Japan systematically stores previous versions of government websites through WebArchive. The National Diet Library is a useful resource for the public and scholars, and even allows public users (with limitations) to commission research by NDL staff. The minutes of all advisory council meetings and all accompanying materials have been made public since 2001 and can be searched online.
Citations:
Digital Agency. 2023. “Overview of DFFT.” https://www.digital.go.jp/en/dfft-overview-en
National Strategy Office of IT. 2021. “National Data Strategy.” https://www.digital.go.jp/assets/contents/node/basic_page/field_ref_resources/0f321c23-517f-439e-9076-5804f0a24b59/20210901_en_05.pdf
OECD. 2020. “Open, Useful and Re-usable data (OURdata) Index: 2019.” https://www.oecd.org/governance/digital-government/ourdata-index-policy-paper-2020.pdf