Civic Groups and Japanese Local Assemblies’ Foreign Policies:

A Panel Data Analysis of Resolutions Regarding North Korea (1993~2018)

抄録

Over the last few years, Japanese prefectural assemblies have issued a considerable of resolutions concerning North Korea, but those numbers vary across the Japanese 47 prefectural assemblies. This paper attempts to explain the varied number by presence of civic groups in each prefecture. The assessment of the impact of civic groups on local assemblies is undertaken by using original panel data on the 47 prefectures from 1993 to 2018. The panel data analysis empirically shows that grassroots activism exerts significant influence on and facilitates the adoption of resolutions by local legislative bodies and supports the model’s predictions for legislative production.