Public Finally Waking Up to Politics

　　　　2001/6/29 Daily Yomiuri Politics Inside掲載記事

Politics has never so greatly excited the Japanese people as it does today. It looks as if a new democratic revolution is taking place in this country. After years of being preoccupied with hopes for another economic boom, the public appears to have found that there is something more important than economic growth. Put another way, the people are beginning to think that the primary task facing them is to seek greater dynamism and maturity in their nation's politics.

For years, the public largely has regarded politics as an inscrutable realm closely linked to the rights and interests only of politicians. Few people have been truly interested in politics or have expected politicians to fulfill their hopes.

However, the advent of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his astonishing popularity have helped encourage the public to rediscover the significance of politics and enjoy watching politicians with keen interest. This can best be demonstrated by the fact that audience ratings for live television broadcasts of Diet sessions with Koizumi present are now higher than those for tabloid shows.

Currently, Koizumi is pushing forward with his pledge to promote full-fledged structural reforms, a challenge that no other prime minister has been able to take on since the collapse of the bubble economy. Koizumi's advantage in this regard is a great change in public thinking about what should be pursued. The people's newfound belief is that improvements in the nation's political climate outweigh economic growth.

Seen from a short-term perspective, deregulation and other structural reforms are bound to entail social uncertainties, confusion and low economic growth, although nothing else could provide a means of revitalizing the Japanese economy in the long run. This means that no prime minister will be able to carry out structural reforms as long as voters are interested only in pursuing short-term economic growth. Therefore, Koizumi's predecessors chose to sink massive amounts of money into economic-stimulus packages without seeking to reform the old economic structure.

The 1990s are often referred to as the "lost decade." It was also an era of missed opportunity for the Japanese economy in that voters remained preoccupied with economic growth and uninterested in reforming the nation's economic structure.

It should be noted that a profound change was taking place in the mind-set of the Japanese people during the protracted recession. The slump may have provided the people with food for thought about what would most benefit their society, life and future. The country's economic slowdown may have given them time to pause and reflect after decades of working solely to accomplish economic growth since the end of World War II.

Undoubtedly, the recession has had an effect on the Japanese people. At the same time, however, the economic plight facing the people has caused them to recognize the need to outgrow their indulgence in the status quo and to turn their attention to the tasks facing society other than economic growth. Many members of the public have learned to raise questions about what politicians should do in fulfilling their duties to carry out all necessary reforms.

The significance of Koizumi's popularity is his awareness of Japanese voters' newfound belief in something more important than economic growth--not his eloquence and dandyism as some commentators have said.

This was shown in the public's reaction to Koizumi's decision not to appeal a recent district court ruling against the government in a lawsuit filed by a group of former leprosy patients. His decision convinced many people that the primary duty of politicians was to take daring actions comparable to this decision, by which he overrode the opinions of many officials who believed that the government should have appealed the case.

Koizumi announced his decision to the press in front of his office. Watching this scene on television, many people came to believe that being prime minister meant making that kind of bold decision. Two or three weeks later, there were reports that the national economy was in decline, but the prime minister's approval rating did not even falter.

In addition, the Koizumi administration is strenuously working to transform this country into a society that values gender equality. For instance, his government has initiated a campaign to overcome a shortage of day nurseries needed to enable mothers to continue working while someone looks after their children.

A remark made by one woman during an on-the-street radio interview indicates that an increasing number of voters are awakening to the potentials of life in a democracy. "The prime minister's speech (including the day nursery proposal) brought tears to my eyes," she said. "That had never happened to me before in my life...I'm truly impressed by politics."

Politics is a tool for making society just, fair and decent. By the same token, structural reform represents an attempt to loosen the grip of vested interests on the nation's economy and provide everyone with an opportunity to freely compete.

By taking advantage of its high popular support and the public's newfound awareness of politics, the Koizumi administration should work to ensure that a democratic revolution fomented by an awakening people will take place in this country. To accomplish this goal, he should demonstrate that democracy signifies an institution that enables voters to fulfill their dreams if their goals help carry out truly important tasks facing their society.

(Inoguchi is a professor of political science at Sophia University.)