Nature and consequences of ‘government infallibility’ in Japan: analysis of newspapers’ narrative

Abstract

Japanese government bodies are often said to be trapped in ‘infallibility’. However, the analysis of this aspect is fragmented. To identify the nature of government infallibility and its impact on government behaviors, we analyzed how Japan’s five major newspapers use this term. To this end, we qualitatively categorized newspapers’ narratives that mention ‘government infallibility.’ The results indicate that the newspaper articles use the term ‘infallibility’ primarily in three ways: as a ‘myth’ that the government does not err, as a ‘principle’ that the government must not err, and as a ‘premise’ in policy formation and implementation wherein the government is regarded as infallible. Newspaper articles have rarely mentioned the ‘pressure’ from external audiences on the infallibility of the government. It is recognized that adherence to infallibility has adverse effects on public administration, such as a slowdown in decision-making, risk-averse policymaking, avoidance of policy change, inappropriate post-processing to deceive apparent infallibility, and concealment of information. Notably, the media rarely address the consequences of their own pursuit of infallibility in public administration. This study contributes to the literature by identifying four facets of infallibility (myth, principle, premise, and pressure) and how they influence government policymaking and implementation.