Selling the idea of local power: Decentralization reforms since the 1990s

Abstract

The centralization of political, administrative, and fiscal power in the national government has been a critical feature shaping Japan’s post-war political economy. During much of this period, greater local power was sold to the public as a panacea that would improve administrative efficiency, revitalize local economies, and deepen democracy. Despite substantial decentralization reforms since 1995, these promised benefits have not materialized. Ken Hijino shows how the ideas of decentralization and local power have changed, specifically in the way it has been publically promoted by the political leadership to Japanese voters since the 1990s. What emerges over the 20-year period is a process in which decentralization has largely lost its legitimacy and potency as an idea of political reform.