POSC 215Part IV
Kesselman, pgs. 239-244, C:CP20-15
Governance & Policy-Making
True/False Questions
1. Unlike the United States, Japan is a unitary state where subnational governments can only exercise powers delegated by the national government. True or False
2. To assure the integrity and independence of prefectural and local governments in Japan, the former maintain an independent decision-making authority, both politically and financially. True or False
3. A distinctive feature of the Japanese polity is its constitutional pacifism (Article 9) introduced under the rule of the postwar Allied Occupation. True or False
4. Despite persistent controversy over its origins in drafts prepared by the occupation authorities, especially its pacifist clause, the present Japanese constitution has never been amended since its enactment in 1947.True or False
5. Recent public opinion polls show that the majority of Japanese are opposedto any revisions of the constitution.True or False
6. The prime minister must be a current Diet member but loses his or her seat in the Diet when serving as the head of the executive branch.True or False
7. All but two of the ten LDP presidents and prime ministers that served during the last two decades were so-called hereditary Diet members, elected to their Diet seats formerly held by relatives, typically their own fathers.True or False
8. The frequent turnover of cabinets in Japan has actually made government more accountable and more efficientespecially on policy making and operational side. True or False
9. Japan has the oldest surviving monarchy in the world with the reign of the first legendary emperor dating back to the mid-7th century BCE. True or False
10. After the defeat of Japan during World War II, the monarchy has been so discredited that it is an irrelevant, isolated institution shunned away from all public ceremonies and activities. True or False
11. Because of changing times and attitudes, the Chrysanthemum Throne has adapted to the new standards allowing for the heir to its throne to be a woman. True or False
12. At the core of the Japanese state are eleven national government ministries, each with virtually exclusive jurisdiction over a specific area or areas of public policy.True or False
13. There has been persistent criticism of excessive control and use of discretionary power by bureaucrats in the Japanese government system, often in violation of the spirit of the laws and regulations on which such control and power are based.True or False
14. Because Japanese national civil servants are protected with lifetime tenure, they can retire whenever they wish, provided with ideal middle-class benefits and income until they die. True or False
15. In the 1970s and 1980s, Japan’s government bureaucracy was greatly admired, both within the nation and abroad, as the exceptionally intelligent, energetic, and dedicated architect of the nation’s post–World War II economic success.True or False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In practice, who initiates most legislation and makes most laws in Japan? a) the Diet, b) the prime minister, c) the cabinet, d) the bureaucracy.
2. All local chief executives, namely, prefectural governors and municipal mayors, and members of prefectural and municipal assemblies in Japan are: a) selected by the central government’s prime minister’s cabinet, b) selected by the House of Councilors, c) popularly elected, d) selected by the direct supervision of a special state commission.
3. How many prefectures or provinces encompass Japan? a) 39, b) 47, c) 53, d) 69.
4. After Japan’s defeat, what was the political consequence of the constitutional commitment of abolishing the once powerful Japanese military? a) it radically changed the structure of and power relations in the executive branch, b) it limited the jurisdiction of the civilian bureaucracy, c) it prevented the Diet from interfering with military affairs, d) it placed the military under the emperor’s authority.
5. Why has there been some controversy over Article 9, and the demilitarization of Japan, especially in recent times, highlighting the 2013 upper house elections? a) the United States has threatened to pull out of Okinawa and wants to free itself from its security commitment, b) Japan does not want to be in the middle of a future war between China and the U.S., c) tension has risen over territorial disputes with China and South Korea and the North Korean military threat, d) Japan wants to become a powerful nation again with a complimentary military supporting its future.
6. Each house in the Diet separately elects a prime minister. If they are different people, than who becomes the chief executive? a) they must call new elections of the Diet, b) the judiciary steps in, c) the lower house's candidate wins, d) the emperor breaks the deadlock and chooses.
7. If the House of Representatives passes a motion of “no confidence” against the prime minister and his cabinet, they must: a) fire the leaders in the House of Councilors and select new leaders from the cabinet, b) they must resign or call for a new general election, c) go to the judiciary and the emperor to identify the problem seekers in the lower house to remove them all if necessary, d) form a reconciliation team cobbled together from retired Diet members who will then select a new prime minister and cabinet.
8. The average tenure in office of prime ministers in postwar Japan has been: a) just a little over two years, with several serving for less than a year, b) a little more than six years with several serving about three years, c) a little less than four years with several serving about three years, d) close to eight years with a few serving less than five years.
9. In practice, how is the LDP’s president chosen? The person is a) elected by the Diet, b) selected by a secret ballot of the cabinet, c) selected by the party faithful in a national election, d) selected by backroom negotiations among leaders of the factions of LDP Diet members.
10. The notable exception to achieving the office of prime minister in Japan, not based on deal-making and party loyalty and support but by his own public and media popularity for his aggressive antiestablishment, populist posture: a) Koizumi Junichiro, b) Masayoshi Ohira, c) Kiichi Miyazawa, d) Takeo Fukuda.
11. The present occupant of the Chrysanthemum Throne, Akihito is the: a) 81st in an unbroken line, b) 125th in an unbroken line, c) 134th in an unbroken line, d) the 152nd in an unbroken line.
12. Under the Meiji Constitution, the emperor was: a) simply a ceremonial figure, b) limited in his authority over the government, c) restrained by a series of restrictions enunciated in the document, d) not only Japan's sovereign ruler but a demigod.
13. Amakudari means the following: a) a practice in which retiring government officials take jobs in a public corporation or private firm that had close ties with their own ministry, b) “descending into peace” that provides government bureaucrat with a large pension, c) learning to meditate and suspend the world around us by isolation, d) requiring that all political leaders visit the shrines of the dead at least once a year.
14. In principle, Japanese civil servants serve in one particular ministry for life, a factor contributing to: a) the tendency of for officials to seek the public interest over ministerial interest, b) inter-ministerial rivalries that breed intense jurisdictional disputes, c) serious corruption and inefficiency, d) derision and outright hatred by the public as a whole.
15. The standard mandatory retirement age for Japanese national civil servants is 60, but, by custom, most career officials usually retire at about: a) 55 years, b) 65 years, c) 70 years, d) there is no consistent or mandatory retirement age.
16. The link among Japanese bureaucrats, politicians, and leaders of the major interest groups, including private business is referred to as: a) peter principle, b) societal triangulation, c) legalized logrolling, d) iron triangle.
Fill-in Questions
1. What kind of state is Japan?
a) Japan is a ______monarchy and a parliamentary democracy, much like Britain and Sweden.
b) The monarch (the ______) is the symbolic head of state,
c) but the people exercise sovereign power through their elected representatives in the national parliament, the _____.
d) Unlike the presidential system of the United States, the Japanese constitution allows a considerable degree of ______of powers between legislative and executive branches,
e) although the ______is an independent third branch, like its U.S. counterpart.
2. The constitution provides the Diet with the following the powers:
a) nominate the ______,
b) enact _____,
c) approve the government ______,
d) ratify international ______, and
e) audit the ______transactions of the state.
3. What are some of the reasons/changes that the Japanese would like to see established in the constitution?
a) revise the alleged anachronism of the ______, Article 9,
b) the need to replace the current parliamentary election of the prime minister by direct ______,and
c) the consolidation of the forty-seven prefectures into ____ or so larger regional units,
d) so as to empower local governments, promote ______of policy-making power, and increase administrative and fiscal efficiency.
4. What are some of the powers exercised by the Japanese prime minister?
a) He or she has the constitutional rights to submit ______to the Diet in the name of the cabinet,
b) control and supervise the national ______, and,
c) in rare cases, suspend a cabinet member’s constitutionally guaranteed ______from an adverse legal action during his or her ______in office.
d) The prime minister is also the ______-___-______of Japan’s military, the JSDF, and
e) may order, subject to the ______consent, JSDF troops to take appropriate actions in a national emergency.
5. Why did the Japanese government bureaucracy become greatly diminished by the end of the 1990s?
a) First, the depressed state of the Japanese ______was blamed on the bureaucrats. b) Second, a series of head-line-grabbing ______involving officials in some of the traditionally most powerful and prestigious ministries and agencies…
c) Third, ______began to claim a greater share of policy-making power at the expense of bureaucrats.
d) Fourth, diminishing ______and tighter spending discipline spelled a shrinking war chest for bureaucrats to tap into for greasing their relationships with politicians and special interest groups, thus seriously eroding their influence.
e) Finally, largely as a result of these developments, the bureaucrats themselves began to lose their self-confidence and sense of ______.
Answers
True or False Questions
1. True
3. True
5. False
7. True
9. True
11. False
13. True
15. True
Multiple Choice Questions
1. c
3. b
5. c
7. b
9. d
11. b
13. a
15. a
Fill-in Questions
1. a) constitutional, b) emperor, c) Diet, d) fusion, e) judiciary
3. a) pacifist clause, b) popular election, c) ten, d) decentralization
5. a) economy, b) scandals, c) politicians, d) tax revenue, e) mission
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