1992 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Research on the relationship between social structure and political reform
| Project/Area Number |
02451028
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
社会学(含社会福祉関係)
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| Research Institution | Sophia University |
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Principal Investigator |
WATANUKI Joji Sophia Univ., Foreign Studies, Professor, 外国語学部, 教授 (80053560)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1990 – 1992
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| Keywords | Political Reform / Social Structure / Female Voter / Political Participation / Political Involvement |
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| Research Abstract |
The most conpicuous change of social structure of contemporary Japan is change of the status and role of women. The impact of this change on politics is apparent in the rise of turnout rate of female voters in elections. However, as evidenced in other advanced countries earlier, the rise of turnout rate of female voters occurred by conformity voting first. Then, psychological involvement followed. Japan's case is also so. Analysis of survey data collected at 1989 Election of the House of Councilors proved that women in their forties and fifties are now almost equal to men in terms of their level of political involvement. Women above sixty years old still lagged behind men in those respects, although male-female gap in this age group has been narrowed. A mail questionnarie survey was conducted in the second year of the research on official secretaries of the members of the House of Representative, Japanese Diet. According to their response, they also perceive activation of female voters as the most conspicuous change occurred recently in the constituencies of their masters, i.e. Diet Members. Current discussion of political reform miss the important change of Japanese social structure, i.e. activation of women completely. On the other hand, minor items such as increase of publicly paid personal staff of the Diet Members are about to be actualized supported by the need of both governing and opposition parties' Diet Members and their secretaries.
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