The Bureaucratization of Policymaking in Postwar Japan

Abstract

To assess bureaucratic penetration of the policymaking process in postwar Japan, four indicators are examined: the declining role of the Diet as an independent legislative organ; links between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the bureaucracy; the bureaucracy's use -of the ordinance power; and the significant control exercised over allegedly independent advisory committees. All show a strong and growing role for the bureaucracy and attest to the institutional bases of bureaucratic power in Japan.