A Study of Policy Coordination by the Cabinet Office in Japan

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K13616
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 06010:Politics-related
• Research Institution: Hiroshima University (2020-2021); Hyogo Earthquake Memorial 21st Century Research Institute (2019)
• Principal Investigator: KOBAYASHI Yuta 広島大学, 人間社会科学研究科(社), 助教 (30824263)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 政策調整 / 内閣府 / 行政組織

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study not only traces the changes in central ministries and agencies since the 1990s but also elucidates the role of the Cabinet Office. In an era of increasingly decentralized administrative bureaucracy in Japan, the government was compelled to respond to new policy challenges. The Cabinet Office, characterized as an ambiguous organization, was unsuccessful in investing the Cabinet Secretariat with prime ministerial power. However, due to its flexible structure, it played a crucial role in taking over policy coordination. The reorganization of central ministries did not produce the expected results. It did, however, make it possible to respond to changes in policy demands.

Free Research Field

行政学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

現代日本の統治構造に大きな影響を与えた中央省庁再編と、その目玉とされた内閣府設置の意義について、政官関係ではなく行政組織や政策調整の立場から異なる視角で検討し、行政改革研究に貢献した。このことは、今後の行政改革を考えるうえで、柔構造組織の役割を検討する際の基礎研究としての社会的意義を持つと考えられる。