Self-Evaluation of the Community Welfare Plans of Municipalities in Japan and Their Influencing Factors: Results of a Questionnaire Survey

Abstract

In this study, a questionnaire survey was conducted among 218 municipalities in the Tohoku region of Japan to determine how they evaluate the quality of their community welfare plans. In this case, a five–point Likert scale was employed to evaluate the quality of the plans, based on the three axes of public participation, inclusiveness, and cross-sectoral nature. Moreover, the content and effectiveness of the initiatives in the planning process were assessed, while the correlations between them and the self-evaluation scores were investigated. According to the findings, the influence of these two factors on the self-evaluation scores was somewhat limited. Thus, we hypothesize that the municipalities do not regularly assess the effectiveness of numerous procedures in their respective community welfare plans.