Jichitai to Sougousei (Local Government and Comprehensiveness - Multifaceted and Principle-Based Consideration)

This book is a record of the papers and discussions presented at the Zoom public symposium "Local Government and Comprehensiveness - 30 Years of Decentralization," held on Saturday, September 23, 2023, by the Administrative Science and Local Government Subcommittee of the Political Science Committee of the Science Council of Japan. The symposium was co-sponsored by the Association of Local Government Studies. This book includes supplementary notes provided by each speaker. Each subcommittee of the Science Council of Japan is tasked with various activities aimed at social dialogue. This year, the symposium reflected on the 30 years of decentralization reform.
 
The theme of this book is comprehensiveness. In the decentralization reform of 2000, local governments were legally reaffirmed as entities that comprehensively manage local affairs. However, the concept of comprehensiveness is not always clearly defined and is sometimes used as a rhetorical device in political movements. Therefore, this book examines comprehensiveness from various perspectives.
 
The first half contains papers from three presenters. [Paper 1], by analyzing the Local Government System Governmental Advisory Council's reports from the 2000s, clarified that comprehensiveness initially referred to the expansion of local government body (e.g., mergers and territorial expansion). However, the term has since been de-emphasized, with focus shifting toward collaboration and cooperation between local governments. [Paper 2] explored the field of ​​urban planning, using a questionnaire survey of local government officials to reveal that comprehensiveness, as perceived by officials, often involves wide-area regional coordination between local governments. [Paper 3], by reflecting on Japan's long-term institutional development, demonstrated that comprehensive administration —involving local governments undertaking a variety of tasks—have been a consistent objective.
 
The second half comprise discussions based on questions raised from the papers in the first half. The discussants presented their own ideas on comprehensiveness. Discussant 1 reflected on various local government initiatives, such as the establishment of basic local government ordinances and proposals submitted to the national government. They argued that comprehensiveness does not mean local governments should assume an excessive workload but rather address the diverse needs of residents, integrate these into a basic initiative (comprehensive plan), and realize it through collaboration with various entities, including town halls and NPOs. Discussant 2 considered comprehensiveness as a guiding principle for local governments, asserting that it is important for local governments to proactively uphold this principle rather than having it imposed by the national government.
 
The symposium concluded with these discussions. However, two commentaries have been included in this book. [Explanatory Note 1] differentiates between comprehensiveness as the allocation of tasks and comprehensiveness as a principle of action. It further categorizes the latter into theoretical frameworks of process-, function-, and space-oriented comprehensiveness. [Explanatory Note 2] focuses on the origins of comprehensiveness, distinguishing between autonomous comprehensiveness and dependent comprehensiveness. It highlights the subjectivity, objectivity, and dependent subjectivity of local governments while discussing the potential for comprehensiveness as a manifestation of local popular subjectivity.
 
As described above, comprehensiveness is a concept often used in movements and practice, necessitating careful academic application. A key feature of this book is that it outlines the various meanings and applications of comprehensiveness, which, despite its ambiguity, serves as a foundation for numerous reform proposals.
 

(Written by KANAI Toshiyuki, Professor, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics / 2024)