Course Description
This course will examine current affairs related to governance, highlight issues contained in the basic principles of governance stipulated in the Japanese Constitution, and consider solutions.
The course will begin with an overview of governance issues in modern society before outlining the basic principles of governance stipulated in the Japanese Constitution. We will then discuss current affairs related to the Diet, the Cabinet, and the courts, present the relevant background and points of contention for these issues, and explore what solutions are available from the perspective of the basic principles of governance.
Keywords
Structure of governance, Constitution, current affairs, problem discovery and solving, logical thinking
Course Plan
Class 1: What governance issues exist in modern society?
Class 2: Basic principles of governance (1): Respect for basic human rights—Objectives of governance
Class 3: Basic principles of governance (2): Pacifism—The meaning of Article 9 of the Constitution
Class 4: Basic principles of governance (3): Popular sovereignty—What does it mean for the people to have sovereignty?
Class 5: The Diet (1): What kind of body is the Diet?
Class 6: The Diet (2): Diet members as representatives of the people
Class 7: Electoral system (1): Election mechanisms—Elections and forms of democracy
Class 8: Electoral system (2): Basic principles of elections—How should low voter turnout be addressed?
Class 9: The Cabinet (1): What kind of body is the Cabinet?
Class 10: The Cabinet (2): The parliamentary cabinet system—Electing the prime minister
Class 11: Fiscal democracy: Unsound finances
Class 12: Courts (1): What kind of body is a court?
Class 13: Court (2): The constitutional review system—Scope and limits of constitutional review
Class 14: Local autonomy: Local autonomy as a school of democracy
Class 15: The symbolic emperor system: What is a "symbol”?, course survey
