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The Significance of This Manifesto
In presidential-type elections such as those for prefectural governors, electors are able to choose the head of government, and therefore the administration, directly. Under a parliamentary cabinet system, in countries with single-seat constituencies and two-party systems the electors are effectively able to choose the prime minister by choosing among the candidates put forward by parties in each constituency. In Japan, however, we have never experienced the kind of routine change of administration that occurs in many other countries, when the principal opposition party wins an election and attains the political power to form an administration. In the first change of administration that I experienced, ten years ago, the main opposition party at the time, the Japan Socialist Party, was defeated heavily, but because the Liberal Democratic Party lacked a majority, seven other parties formed a coalition, and the Hosokawa Administration was born.
But even in the following two general elections under the single-seat constituency system introduced by the Hosokawa Administration, no change of administration resulted. It was like having ploughed a field but not sown the seed that brings it to life. If the Democratic Party of Japan is victorious and assumes power, it will be the first time in Japan that there has been a change of administration after an election victory by the largest opposition party, something that is a matter of course in other countries. That would mean that life-giving seed has been planted in the ploughed field of the single-seat constituency system.
A manifesto is a statement of the policies that the two major political parties, vying for government, pledge in advance to the people of the nation that they will implement when they form the administration. When two major political parties confront each other and the people choose one or the other of them, it is the same as choosing the governing parties to form the administration, the prime minister, and the manifesto (administration policies), or in other words the administration itself.
The Japanese government system, which uses a parliamentary cabinet system, has not hitherto been a system based on two major political parties, and as a result the people have not been able to choose an administration. To form one wing of a system of two major political parties, the Democratic Party and the Liberal Party amalgamated out of readiness to work for their common interests despite minor differences of opinion. This presents an ideal opportunity for us to ask the people of Japan to choose our manifesto.
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) manifesto was drafted on the basis of this thinking, and the final decisions were taken by myself through the responsibility vested in me as party leader. The entire parliamentary membership of the DPJ has signed this manifesto and pledged to put it into effect, and now asks the people of Japan to choose it. I hope that the LDP will also have a manifesto to which all of its members subscribe, and that there will be a fair contest.
If a change of administration comes about, Japan will also have entered the age of genuine two-party politics. The LDP will also be compelled to reform itself, signifying that Japanese party politics will have evolved into a form that befits the 21st century. |
Ending the Centralization of Power and Showing the Bureaucrats Who Is Boss
The kind of country that the DPJ wants to build is a country that is decentralized, so that things are decided close to where people live, and a country in which the people, not the bureaucrats, are the masters. The Japan of today is a centralized state in which the centre exercises excessive control over the regions, and also a bureaucracy in which bureaucrats, rather than the ordinary people of the country, dominate the political and economic spheres. During Japan's development and industrialization phase, in some respects this kind of centralized bureaucratic state hastened our development, but today it is a major factor behind the weakening of the people's natural vitality. Japan will not be able to revive itself unless this type of state is changed fundamentally into a nation in which decentralization, the sovereignty of the people, and the leadership of the private sector, through markets, non-profit organizations, and the like, hold sway. |
A Society with Minimal Unhappiness
In my view, the purpose of politics is to create a society in which unhappiness is minimized. There are people in our society who experience unhappiness, and that unhappiness arises for a variety of reasons. The purpose of politics is to ensure that political power or authority eliminates as many of those causes that can be eliminated, and minimizes unhappiness.
The reason why I say "minimize unhappiness" rather than "maximize happiness" is because I believe that whereas the causes of unhappiness in such forms as illness and poverty can to a considerable extent be eliminated by political power, most happiness arises from spiritual and moral factors such as love and aesthetic sense, which are realms in which political power should not interfere. It constitutes coercive and autocratic behaviour for certain people to exercise political power unnaturally to force "happiness" on others. Because political power connotes coercive power that holds sway over people's fates, the goal of exercising it should be to minimize the causes of people's unhappiness, and not to create values, which fall into the category of personal preferences such as aesthetic sense. That is the basic philosophy that underlies my approach to politics.
Perhaps talk of "a society in which unhappiness is minimized" conjures up a rather weak image, but that is not the thought that I wish to convey to you. What I do want to convey is my absolute determination to exercise political power to minimize the unhappiness that many people feel. Law and order, and national defence, form part of that. In order to realize a society in which unhappiness is minimized, naturally the people must be protected against crime, aggression, and terrorism; that is the minimum obligation of government. To protect the lives and property of the people, it is essential for the nation to possess appropriate policing and defence capabilities.
In addition, the phrase "a society in which unhappiness is minimized" may also be suggestive of welfare-state-type big government. That is also incorrect. I want to enable self-reliant individuals to exercise their powers as much as they please in deregulated free economic markets and society, while the government lends a helping hand to people who fall into difficulty through no fault of their own. This means, for example, that the government should take active steps to extend relief to people who fall victim to natural disasters or criminal acts.
The problem of unemployment is not purely an economic one, but a major problem that can cause the loss of human dignity. The failure of government policy hitherto has been a major cause of the present difficult situation for small and medium sized enterprises and sole proprietorships, and of the distress of the unemployed. In view of this, I believe that it is now a major responsibility of the administration to create jobs, to maintain employment, and to support all of you who are confronting these hardships and striving to make a fresh start.
To address issues of this kind it is essential for politicians to take the responsibility upon themselves to plan, implement, and check policy (Plan-Do-Check). Those in political power must not simply place all policy in the hands of bureaucratic institutions, but build proper relationships with officialdom, and take the initiative in governing the country in a responsible manner. |
The Kan Manifesto
Based on the thinking set out above, I will radically change the system of bureaucracy in which full command of policy is handed over to bureaucrats, establishing an administration under which the bureaucrats are shown who is boss. In order to create a society in which unhappiness is minimized, I will commit myself totally to carrying out the following "Five Pledges" and "Two Proposals". |
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