Local Government Policy and the Contribution of Sociologists

Abstract

This paper explores the difficulties and possibilities of Sociologists who try to contribute to local government policy-making through the examination of past experiences of researchers who were engaged in rural or urban community studies. We take up three cases as follows: The first is a critique of the Regional Development Policy created by Sociologists engaged in Regional and Community Studies developed from Rural Sociology which studies the effects of the Farmland Reform after World War II. The second documents the experience of Urban Sociologists strongly engaged in Community Policy proposed by the past Ministry of Home Affairs. The third is a more recent report of the Sociology Committee within the Science Council of Japan.
Through the analysis of these cases it becomes clear that Sociologists have to contribute to building policy while considering the following three conditions: The first and most important role of Sociologists is investigating the results of a policy after it has come into effect. Secondly, according to the results of this research, policy presented by Sociologists must be based on the preferences of ordinary people. Thirdly, Sociologists engaged in policymaking need to understand the conditions of the government trying to execute the policy. Under these conditions, Sociologists try to discover the best way of realizing what they want. Sociology's contribution to governmental policy is to clarify historical and path-dependent cultural conditions based on an understanding of people's subjective meanings embedded in the social relations of the past and present. Local government policy will not be approved by many residents without considering these sociological elements. This is the contribution of sociology to the policymaker. It makes policy more effective and helps the local government be more democratic.