Fix the mistake: Democratic Government and the Structures of National and Local Government

Democratic Government, Elections, and Political Parties

Democratic government is a system in which representatives of the people govern based on popular sovereignty. Elections are the means of choosing representatives, and political parties are organizations that share political principles.

Basic Knowledge

Democracy includes direct democracy (the people decide directly) and indirect democracy (representative democracy) (representatives decide). Japan mainly adopts indirect democracy.
The four principles of elections are: universal suffrage (no restrictions based on property or sex), equal suffrage (one person, one vote), direct election (voters vote directly), and secret ballot (the content of one’s vote is kept secret).
In Japan, citizens aged 18 and over have the right to vote (since 2016). Eligibility for election is 25 or older for the House of Representatives, local assembly members, and mayors, and 30 or older for the House of Councillors and prefectural governors.

Important Terms
Universal suffrage (the principle of granting the right to vote to all citizens who have reached a certain age)
Single-member district system (one person elected from each district; advantageous to large parties, with many wasted votes)
Proportional representation (seats allocated according to each party’s share of the vote; advantageous to small parties, with fewer wasted votes)
Parallel voting system (the House of Representatives election system combining both systems)
Political party (an organization that shares political principles and aims to gain political power)
Ruling and opposition parties (the ruling party forms the government; the other parties are opposition parties)

Further Study (Background and Significance)

Election systems have advantages and disadvantages. The single-member district system makes stable government more likely, but it has the disadvantage of producing many wasted votes (votes cast for losing candidates), making it difficult to reflect the public will. Proportional representation produces fewer wasted votes and reflects diverse public opinions, but governments tend to become unstable when many small parties emerge.
In recent years, the decline in voter turnout, especially among young people, has been an issue. Measures such as the legalization of online election campaigning (2013) and early voting have been introduced. The vote-value disparity (the difference in the number of voters per legislator among electoral districts) is also sometimes judged by courts to be in an unconstitutional state.

Key Points
  • Four principles of elections = universal, equal, direct, and secret
  • Right to vote from age 18 (2016 amendment)
  • House of Representatives = parallel voting system
  • House of Councillors = electoral districts + proportional representation (open-list system)
  • Single-member districts = many wasted votes, advantageous to large parties
  • Proportional representation = fewer wasted votes, reflects public opinion
  • Ruling party (forms the government) and opposition parties (all others)

Points to Note (Easily Confused)

① The right to vote begins at 18, while eligibility for election begins at 25 or 30. ② Distinguish the election systems of the House of Representatives (parallel voting system) and the House of Councillors (electoral districts plus proportional representation). ③ Wasted votes are votes for losing candidates and are common in single-member districts. ④ A coalition government is a government formed by multiple political parties working together.

Practice

  1. Name all four principles of elections.
  2. What is the election system of the House of Representatives called?
  3. What is the political party that forms the government called?

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