POSC 215 Part IV
Kesselman, pgs. 209-213, C:CP20-12
Governance & Policy-Making—Japan
True or False Questions
1. The prefectures and municipalities in a unitary state are politically superior to the state when it comes to decision-making. True or False
2. In the Japanese governing system, it is the Diet that initiates most legislation and not the cabinet. True or False
3. The Japanese prime minister does not need the Diet’s consent to order the Self-Defense Forces to take appropriate actions in a national emergency. True or False
4. The Japanese cabinet is one of the weakest among parliamentary systems, prevented from promulgating laws or ratifying treaties. True or False
5. Japan has the oldest surviving monarchy in the world with the reign of the first legendary emperor dating back to the mid-7th century CE. True or False
6. 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
7. 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
8. 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
9. 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
10. Although Japan provides a national civil service exam supposedly to earn an opportunity to work in a public ministry, in actuality the exams are ignored and selection is based on family connections and payoffs. True or False
11. When comparing the costs to the public treasury, Japanese civil servants provide exceptional service at a relatively cheap price. True or False
Multiuple Choice Questions
1. How many prefectures or provinces encompass Japan? a) 39, b) 47, c) 53, d) 69
2. Under the 1947 Constitution, Japan is a) both a constitutional monarchy and a presidential democracy, b) a pure democracy with a number of independent prefectures, c) both a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, d) both an institutional monarchy and a decentralized state.
3. 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.
4. In practice, how is the LDP’s president chosen? a) He is elected by the Diet, b) He is selected by a secret ballot of the cabinet, c) He is selected by the party faithful in a national election, d) He is selected by backroom negotiations among leaders of the factions of LDP Diet members,
5. 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.
6. 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) 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.
7. 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.
8. 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 whose person was sacred and inviolable.
9. 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.
10. What is the current mandatory retirement age for national civil servants in Japan? a) 55 years, b) 60 years, c) 65 years, d) there is no mandatory retirement age.
Fill-in Questions
1. The constitution gives the Diet the power to:
a) nominate the ______,
b) enact _____,
c) approve the government ______,
d) ratify international ______,
e) and audit the ______transactions of the state.
2. What are some of the main powers of the Japanese prime minister?
a) he has the constitutional right to submit ______to the Diet in the name of the cabinet;
b) to exercise control and supervision of the national ______;
c) and, in rare cases, to ______a cabinet member’s constitutionally guaranteed ______from an adverse ______action during his or her tenure in office.
3. 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. False
3. False
5. True
7. False
9. True
11. True
Multiple Choice Questions
1. b
3. c
5. a
7. b
9. a
Fill-in Questions
1. a) prime minister, b) laws, c) budget, d) treaties, e) financial
3. a) economy, b) scandals, c) politicians, d) tax revenue, e) mission
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