The Cabinet Legislation Bureau (CLB) which is a auxiliary engine of the Cabinet carries on its shoulder the function of constitutional intelligence in the legal system of Japan. The CLB has played the ordering function of the constitutional structure in various forms from the era of the Meiji-Constitution up to today underwent the legislation such as the present Constitution of Japan and organic laws after the World War II. The task of the CLB is mainly divided into examination work which examines legal plans and opinion-giving work which is concerned with legal issues. It is also one of the important functions for it to make reply to the questions by the members of the Diet which is concerned with legal issues and the unified view of the Government.

The examination work of the CLB adds up to an annual average of 650 issues, adding the bills presented by the Cabinet and the cabinet orders. In particular, the bills presented by the Cabinet which are drafted by each governmental department are examined severely in terms of the consistency with the Constitution and the whole system of Japanese law, including the relationship with fundamental rights and duties of the citizens. Therefore, cases where any provision of an Act is regarded as unconstitutional are very few of constitutional law litigation.

On the other hand, it is the legal opinion which is concerned with interpretative problems and reply in writing for referrals from each governmental department that occupies a main part of opinion-giving work. It also has the de-fact function taking over a precedent of the Supreme Court in the Government and Administration. In that sense, it has greatly contributed to forming and carrying out the constitutional government.

But, while legal opinions decrease, replies of opinion by oral increase against the background of the increase of establishing the legal system after war of Japan, of activities in the deliberations of the Diet and of constitutional precedents of the Supreme Court.

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This article analyses the foundation process of the Supreme Court in postwar Japan. Compared with the Diet and the Cabinet, the Supreme Court was much weaker and sometimes interfered by the other branches because the Court could not handle its administrative authority which was given by the new constitution. It could not integrate the judiciary nor strongly negotiate with the other branches. After 1950, the Chief Justice TANAKA Kotaro, supported by the Secretariat, built up the new administrative system in the judiciary. This article focuses on the three issues in 1957: the political dispute in the Diet on the reform of the Supreme Court, postings of judges, and the tenth anniversary held by the judges, the prosecutors and the Bar. These processes made the Supreme Court succeed in mobilising lawyers both inside and outside the government. The Supreme Court became rooted in the constitutional settings with the effect of this mobilisation.

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Prime minister Koizumi changed the style of Japanese politics in many aspects. Among his many attempts, vitalization of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (CEFP) is very dramatic and effective. Through the CEFP deliberations, the Prime minister can choose his policy after the discussion among related ministers, which has rarely happened in Japanese cabinet. In addition to that, 4 non government official members of CEFP submit their joint proposals frequently to provide the alternative policy ideas which are different from the proposals from the ministries. The dispersed nature of Japanese budgetary process has been change to some extent by the CEFP decision on the budgetary principle. With passing time, ruling Liberal Democratic Party also has tried to adjust these new policy making process. As a result, Japanese cabinet system has transformed to the direction of parliamentary or unitary government system like many western democratic countries with the relatively strong leadership of the prime minister.

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In this article, I analyze the organizational character and administrative function of Council for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP). Firstly, I characterize CSTP, established in January 2001 within Cabinet Office, as “Specific, but Integrated Coordination” agency, because its policy domain is limited to the specific area of science and technology (S & T) policies but it has the budgeting, planning, and evaluating power to coordinate and integrate the S & T policies of the relevant ministries. Secondly, I investigate the institutionalization and limits of “CSTP ranking S-A-B-C” in the budgeting process to elucidate the real function of CSTP's “coordination by budgeting.” Thirdly, I examine the organizational process of making the S & T Basic Plan 2006-2010 for the purpose of exploring CSTP's “coordination by planning.” Lastly, I conclude that CSTP's functions of coordination by budgeting and planning are deeply institutionalized though there are some problems whether CSTP can reflect R & D evaluation effectively on the budgeting and policy planning process.

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The reform of the central government in 2001 was one of the main achievements of the Prime Minister Hashimoto. The reform tried to strengthen the power of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to lead and coordinate the Ministries that became gigantic by consolidation. For this purpose, the Cabinet Secretariat can designate a specific Ministry to coordinate a specific policy in the whole government. At the same time, the reform introduced a new coordination system between Ministries that allowed them to express opinions to other Ministries for the unity of policies within the government. The aim of the reform is to lessen the burden of the Cabinet Secretariat and make it possible to concentrate on the most important issues.

Each Ministry has become more familiar to this new system. A case study of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in regard to tourism policy coordination reveals some critical points to make this new coordination system work smoothly. First, assignment of a specific field by the Prime Minister helps a Minister to pursue the adjustment between Ministries effectively. Second, systematic support from the Cabinet Secretariat is crucial to strengthen a negotiation power of a specific Ministry. Third, the transparency of coordination process should be increased because it is a process of public choice among different values.

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In post WWII Japan, civil service system has been based on the position-classification system as the “standard of position”. The National Civil Service Act and the Position-Classification Act ware installed. But, the position-classification system has not been implemented until now. As a result, Civil Service Payment Act was implemented. Another categorization of positions has been used. In spite of the suspension of the position-classification system, it have had implicit functions. In order to reform totally the civil service system, we have to manage the implicit functions.

The implicit functions are (1) “standard-setting” function for system design, (2) division of the personnel administration competence and (3) agenda-setting and reflection function. If we want to reform the civil service system, we may abolish the position-classification system. We have to coordinate the implicit functions of the position-classification system. The total civil service reform project (2001-2005) did not succeed because of the failure of coordination with the implicit functions

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The theme of this research is to examine the possibility of governmental tools for coordination of public programs. To analyze this problem, this paper considers mainly the Compact City Concept. Recently, there is a trend toward the renewal of inner city in Japan. To reach a consensus on the planning in this district is extraordinary difficult, because there are a lot of factors such as residents. Therefore, the inner city planning is now under the necessity of respecting public involvement. First, I will review recent arguments on compact city. In the contemporary legal system, transparency, interactive planning and accountability are specially becoming major topics for discussion. Secondly, I will focus on some Japanese cities that have tried to create a new type of regulatory tools. Experiment with new methods by local government is very important for the creation of new legal system at national level. Finally, I will review fundamental ways of thinking on administrative law and point to the reformation of Japanese administrative law.

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The purpose of this article is to discuss several problems on policy making and inter-departmental coordination at local governments in Japan.

It is said that the power of control by national ministries over local governments will be reduced when the decentralization reform is realized. If systems of direction and subsidies from national to local governments are changed, compartmentalized public administration on the national level would be coordinated at the local level, and policy making at the local level would be more responsive to the needs of local residents.

Such a prediction, however, may not come true so easily. Since the systems of compartmentalized public administration have been continued for a long time, staffs of local governments also have taken the old systems for granted.

To make inter-departmental coordination work at the local level, it is necessary to set policy framework suitable for own issues in the area.

Then I would like to examine on which conditions policy coordination succeeds or fails. First, I would like to review three factors that affect public administration. Three factors, I mean, are organization, human affairs, and the policy contents. Next, I assume that at least one factor of the three is clearly built, policy coordination would start from that factor (on the contrary, if three factors are all uncertain, inter-departmental policy coordination will not start). Then, I choose animal administration (administrations on Law of Humane Treatment and Management of Animals) as a case that inter-departmental policy coordination does not succeed.

To make inter-departmental coordination work, a vision of policy is important. Therefore, making a master plan works as a measure to arrange policy coordination.

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This paper considers the risk perceptions and regulatory responses of governmental ministries and investigates into the factors of failure in policy coordination between those ministries. In the paper, I analyze policy process from a risk management perspective, especially focusing on the institutional risk of administrative agencies. According to the social amplification of risk framework (SARF) which is one of the most important frameworks in the risk study, institutional risks are amplified or attenuated in social and organizational processes. Empirically, the paper examines bureaucratic actions to BSE problem, mainly MBM regulation, taken by Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW). The paper finds that perspectives and responses of each ministry depend on the amplification process of institutional risk. Because MAFF was constrained by the conditions of international trading mainly, it resulted in regulatory Ignorance. On the other hand, MOHW took active responses to avoid litigation substantially. Finally, this analysis leads to the implication that ministries can hardly cooperate in policy coordination without amplification of institutional risk.

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This article presents a quantitative analysis of the economic effect of bidders' strategic behaviors in competitive bidding processes.

Previous analyses pointed that the efficacy of competitive bidding would be compromised by bidders' covert strategic behaviors, even if the bidding were conducted normally, without bid rigging. However, the economic effect of bidders' strategic behaviors has not been empirically investigated on a systematic basis. In consequence, it is not clear whether or not bidders' strategic behaviors generate economic loss.

This article estimates quantitatively the economic effect of bidders' strategic behaviors, using the data of competitive biddings for public procurement of information systems. The results of my analysis suggest that the economic loss resulting from bidders' strategic behaviors is significant, and that in order for competitive biddings to be more effective, institutional devices designed to curb bidders' strategic behaviors are necessary as well as devices that enhance competition in bidding ' processes.

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I suspect that the knowledge and theories on governmental policy process can hardly inspire students' creativity. Rather, I want to pay much attention to designers' thoughts: what is design?

Surely, we political scientists often talk of “design”. But it is dubious if we understand how designers create new products. As “design” means broadly, it is often used in the studies on management science. In this trend, policy design discussions ironically may dismiss the creativity for problem solving, which required in the introductory education for policy studies. Before the social engineering approach, we had better understand how the product designers realize new concept.

This approach is different from prior works on policy design. Even though Professor Adachi (2005) noted the creative ideas or sketches, he highlighted the normative guideline for those who involved in governmental decision making. This paper tries to show another approach to the basic question what policy design is. This is much helped by the designers' writings : Itsumi (2002). Hara (2003). and Fukasawa (2005).

But it is natural that readers doubt the relevance of public policy to the idea of product design. So I will respond them with three reasons as follows;

(1) In policy design discussions, we have paid little attention to the organizational divisions of designing processes. Therefore, the students who come to our class should feel difficulty in imaging what they will do in the near future.

(2) Policy researchers often presuppose that policy designers must enable political leaders to choice in some possible plans. But such an important premise in policy studies won't be plausible if designers, like in the product design practices, should outline the object in a decisive manner.

(3) Because the beauty of “modern design” consists of functionality and simplicity, products design doesn't always support either the faith on rationality in 1960's or the affirmation of rude private profit seeking after 1980's. Well designed commodities may make us sensitive to social norms in everyday lives.

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Most traditional studies on the process of education policy in Japan have identified the conflict between the conservative camp and the progressive camp or between the educational camp and the non-educational camp. In this paper, the process of the policy with respect to the cooperation between businesses and universities is focused on because this cannot be limited by such conflicts. The establishment of two national universities of technology in the 1970s is chosen as a case study for this. The analytical framework of the study is based on the 'advocacy coalition framework' by Paul A. Sabatier. This framework argues that policy changes over time are influenced by 'policy-oriented learning' within a policy subsystem.

Not only the Ministry of Education and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) but also the Association of National Colleges of Technology and the Japan Federation of Employers' Associations are involved in the policy subsystem for the establishment of these universities. Each actor has not asserted themselves but has nonetheless advocated policy alternatives through ‘policy-oriented learning’ within the policy sub-system and this has gradually encouraged the Ministry of Education to establish universities in Nagaoka and Toyohashi. This case reveals that the education policy process has involved a variety of actors who are not always fixed and who vary from issue to issue. It is necessary to modify the traditional studies paradigm which has premised that the every process is directed by the Ministry of Education with a consistent policy, because this case in 1970s looks pluralistic.

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In the political areas such as environment and welfare, and so on, the policy problems that should be settled involve complicated interest relationships. In these areas, because drafting and the execution of a policy by few political agents are difficult, it is becoming a policy process of the pluralism that the various politics subject participated in a policy process. And, in these areas, policy approaches of participation and information came to be used to grasp the present conditions of their problems precisely. Because many policy evaluation approaches regard policy participation of few agent as a model, as for the approaches of informational and participation, it is not possible for enough analysis by these existing evaluation methods. Based on the policy network analysis that integrated a social network analysis to perform quantitative analysis in sociometry with the qualitative policy network idea in political science, I devised evaluation method of the informational policy approach that took participation of the various agents. This policy network analysis can estimate both sides of a role of the agent inside the network and structure of the network quantitatively. In this thesis, Eco-labeling for use in informational approach is analyzed by policy network analysis method. As a result of having analyzed a criteria formation process of an eco-label, it became clear to affect the role that many factors served as for the information flowing of each policy agents and structure of a network of the information flowing of a criteria formation process. In addition, as an example of application of a policy network analysis, I showed ex ante policy simulation and showed the direction of expansion to ex ante policy evaluation and policy proposal.

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Since the construction enterprise of the 36 roads (Between the Ikebukuro-Kannana) was interrupted, construction of Subway No.8 line (Between the Ikebukuro-Narimasu) had forced difficult enterprise management.

With the enterprise management, I analyze negotiation between residents' grass-roots movement and an entrepreneur from 1975 to 1986 (after subway opening of traffic).

Before the enterprise start, the persons concerned of an area formed the movement organization for collective bargaining. And it worked on the entrepreneur directly and the negotiation window was gained.

By this, the movement organization clarified the opinion at the public place. I tried extension of a “mobilization model” through this case analysis. The prepared hypotheses are as follows.

“Only the resources in which the strength of an organization is shown do not necessarily influence negotiation. (Human power, goods, and money) How to use resources rather is important. (Strategy nature) Further, the problem institution which the political subject performed may serve as negotiation resources, when the public responsibility of the contents is high.”

As a result of examining this example, the strategy nature of a political subject and the public responsibility of problem institution can judge that the negotiation result was affected.

By the resources mobilization theory, efficiency is thought as important as an explanation variable of negotiation (the quantity of resources mobilization shows the strength of an organization).

However, the influence which also gives the strategy in the mobilization method of resources to negotiation is large. Furthermore, the supplement by the public responsibility of problem institution of a movement organization is also required.

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The World Commission on Dams (WCD) which was established voluntary by World Bank, published its final report Dams and Development on November 2000, and was dismissed. The report concluded that dams has played significant role in development, but also stressed that dams, in too many cases, brought irreversible damage on natural and social environment, and cost overruns. The report also demanded to involve all stakeholders in dam project planning procedures, and to follow their recommendations.

In this article, the WCD is analyzed as a process of World Bank's dam policies. It is said that organizations and its policies have inertia which avoids drastic correspondent to the current demands. However, it seems that WCD demanded World Bank to change their dam policies drastically.

How did this ad-hoc commission overcome World Bank's inertia on dam policies despite the fact that the commission was established by World Bank itself? For this purpose, the establishment process and institutional features of WCD are analyzed. Subsequently, the World Bank's inertia on dam policies are shown, and the process of how “ unintended” outcomes became substance.

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