일본에 있어서의 정관관계의 변화와 그 귀결

Abstract

This study aims to discover how the Japanese bureaucracy lost its predominant position against the cabinet in the era of the former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. A practice known as ‘Sontaku(忖度)’, which refers to the act of speculating the intention of one’s superiors and following an order that is not explicitly given, became the word that represented the notable change in the dynamics. For those who have been witnessing the bureaucrats taking the lead in the long history of Japan’s politics, the fall of the bureaucratic circle may seem to be a phenomenon that is noteworthy. The relationship between bureaucrats and politicians has evolved in the course of time. Until 1970s, the bureaucracy obviously presided over the political ground. However, in 1980s, a call for expanding the influence of politicians became stronger. Entering into 1990s, the Japanese national civil service sector went through major reformations in its system, which enabled the politicians to consolidate their leading position against the bureaucrats. During the time of the Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (2001~2006), the reformation was led by the Prime Minister himself. The birth of the second Abe cabinet in 2012 took things to the next level, where the Prime Minister and his executive office came to assert their power over the bureaucracy. In 2014, the Cabinet allowed itself to be intimately involved in the personnel affairs of senior positions in the bureaucracy, by revising the National Civil Service Act and establishing the Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs. It is rather reasonable to perceive that these systematic changes may result in the falling of the bureaucracy.