Neoliberal Education Reform and Aspects of the Crisis of Democracy: The New Phase of Prime Minister’s Office-led and Politician-led Reforms and Challenges for Education Policy Research

Abstract

The new phase of education policy that we are currently facing is an extension of neoliberal education　reform, but with different characteristics. This is because the current stage, in which the public sector to be dismantled is severely reduced, requires a new framework to promote it even more vigorously. 　Since the second Abe administration in 2012, the “cabinet function” has been further strengthened and entered a new phase. First, the Command Center for Neoliberal Reform was further divided into several　agencies to promote neoliberal reforms simultaneously. The second characteristic was the transfer of the authority to the Cabinet Office to formulate and promote the Basic Plan for Science and Technology under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, as well as the authority to estimate and adjust science and technology-related budgets. The third characteristic of the Cabinet Office is that it was created outside the National Government Organization Law as a subsidiary department of the Cabinet Office, which has its own established law. 　The refusal to appoint the Science Council of Japan in 2020 and the revision of the Science Council of　Japan Law that we are currently facing are issues that should be considered the focal point of neoliberal administrative reform and the state of specialized knowledge, which forcefully pushes the Prime Minister’s Office and political leadership. 　Keywords: Neoliberal Education Reform, Prime Minister’s Office-led and Politically Driven Reform,　Democratic Crisis, Digital Society, Science Council of Japan