Governance and Evaluation 16 Kagaku Gijutsu Seisaku to Accountability (Science/Technology Policy and Accountability)

As one of the volumes in Koyo Shobo’s “Governance and Evaluation” series, Chapter 1 offers a broad overview of evaluation theory. Policy evaluation originally drew on the concept of financial audit—examining whether budgets were spent properly. Yet, proper expenditure alone does not guarantee that intended outcomes have been achieved, giving rise to program evaluation aimed at assessing policy content. Because substantive assessment proved difficult in practice, many evaluations ultimately reverted to exterior, process-based measures. This tendency highlights the challenges involved in evaluating science and technology policy, where subject matter is highly specialized.
 
Chapters 2 through 4 trace the historical evolution of Japan’s science and technology administration. Chapter 2 shows that the Japanese term for “science and technology” first appeared during the Total War System of World War II, specifically in the Basic National Policy Outline on Establishing a New System of Science and Technology issued by Prime Minister Konoé’s second cabinet. The Technical Institute created to implement this policy was dismantled after the war, though parts of its structure survived in bodies such as the National Institute of Industrial Science and Technology. Chapter 3 follows three postwar attempts to revive a dedicated science and technology office, culminating in the establishment of the Science and Technology Agency in 1956. Resistance from other ministries meant that the agency’s initial vision of unified science and technology policy gave way, in practice, to an organization more akin to an Atomic Energy Agency. Chapter 4 then depicts how the agency expanded its charge—to areas like space and deep-sea research—and developed new policy tools for promoting science and technology. Although the 2001 government reorganization elevated the Council for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP) to a central coordinating role, successive administrations from Koizumi to the Democratic Party and then the Abe government gradually brought that function under direct political control.
 
From Chapter 5 onward, the book examines specific policy debates. Chapter 5 introduces the diverse opinions surrounding the treatment of the Science and Technology Agency during the 2001 restructuring, and describes how the newly formed CSTP began, from 2003, to centrally review the entire science and technology budget—prompting the Science Council of Japan to warn that its independence could be threatened by being forced to work in tandem with CSTP. Chapter 6 discusses the incorporation of research bodies: under Hashimoto’s administrative reforms, Incorporated Administrative Agencies were created, followed in 2004 by National University Corporations. Concerns that Incorporated Administrative Agencies might not suit research and development led to the 2008 Act on Improving the Capacity, and the Efficient Promotion of Research and Development and the 2014 revision of Act on General Rules for Incorporated Administrative Agencies, establishing the National Research and Development Agency system. The chapter notes that the National Research and Development Agencies and National University Corporations—originally designed for different purposes—have come to resemble one another. Chapter 7 retraces the debate over introducing fixed-term research appointments back to the 1960s, questioning why such a system was imposed under the changing economic conditions of the 1990s downturn.

Chapter 8 critiques the current policy cycle, in which single-year budgeting prevents lessons from the prior year from informing new plans, and observes that the agency’s top-down management strategy effectively overrode broader policy doctrines—leading to a proliferation of “command towers” beyond CSTP. Chapter 9 presents the frustrations within JAXA’s R&D department, where adopting the evaluation system of its big project divisions has created an excessive workload for small R&D divisions. Finally, Chapter 10 introduces the European Space Agency’s structure, which, unlike Japan’s, maintains a clear separation between research and management.
 

(Written by SADAMATSU Atsushi, Project Associate Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences / 2025)