Achievement of Country Management by New Public: A Study from a Point of View with the Social Capital

Abstract

A term of “Country Management by New Public (CMNP)” is shown in the New General Planning of Country Formation (Kokudo Keisei Keikaku) in the report of the Japanese government even though this new plan does not decide formally yet. Here CMNP is given as a specific message that the government would not be a main player for public but the local community should be a main player for public in the future of Japan. Of course, such as idea may be indispensable in the early stage of Twenty First Century in Japan, but it is also true that Japan has never experienced against such as intention. In Japan, There has been a dominant thinking for years that nation should be responsible only for public or the public areas. Therefore, it is not always easy for Japan to understand and to accept the new idea such as CMNP. How can Japan do then? I would like to recommend to study or to learn Community Economic Development (CED) Initiatives in EU as a precedent example. Here CED is quite based on the theory of Social Capital like Robert Putman and so on. CED does not aim to get each nation's own profits but also to close up individual people as losers of globalization which includes, for example, single parent issue and social exclusion issue and so on. Really it is the significance of Public in CED based on Social Capital. Saying by other words, it is based on the Interregional thought. On the contrary, CMNP still lacks of ideas how to remake the fundamental local community in Japan. The local community in Japan has been rapidly falling worse than before. Braking through of this situation, I pointed out something as important issues. In particular, we have to recognize that it is necessary to embody the democratic way of new types into local community such as Community Building. They are narrow paths toward to Achievement of CMNP.