Characteristics and Issues of Community Policy

Abstract

Community policy which is implemented by central and local government administration in Japan has so far centered on the distribution of subsidies. However, under the difficult situation surrounding local communities, it is necessary to reconsider community policy by making use of the perspectives and knowledges of public policy studies. Therefore, this paper aims to clarify “What phase is community policy based on the perspectives and knowledges of public policy studies, and what characteristics and issues are included?”. As a result of the research, it was found that the requirements for community policy are policy structure, diversity of actors, enrichment of content, and refinement of effect measurement. At the same time, issues can be sorted out such as how to manage the local community, how to rebuild the relationship between the local government administration and the local community, and how to encourage the activities of the local community. In any case, there is a limit to the consideration of improvement measures that rely only on individual academic disciplines, and comprehensive research from multiple perspectives is required. From these points, the social significance of public policy studies, which is interdisciplinary and problem-solving oriented, can be reconfirmed.