"Toward a More Stable
Democracy"
('Declaration' issued at the time of establishment
in October, 1975)
It is an important task for us to establish a sound parliamentary democracy in
Japan because politics is 'an act of choosing future' which controls the future of
Japanese nation.
Fortunately, we were successful in planting parliamentary democracy in Japan for these 30
years since the end of World War II.
When we consider Japanese parliamentary democracy, however, we find several defects in it
such as lack of the sense of responsibility held by parties, insufficient capability of
policy formation among parties, which were the results of the absence of the change of
government between parties in Japanese politics.
At the same time, we face with various problems which require urgent solution such as
policy transformation from rapid growth era to welfare implementation era, establishment
of urban policies to rescue citizens from urban problems, and the electoral reform which
determines the future of Japanese democracy.
Considering the situation at present, we regret the fact that there is no independent
research institution in Japan which conducts serious research into fundamental questions
in politics such as party, election, local government. This is the reason why we decided to
establish 'the Institute for Political Studies in Japan' (IPSJ).
We shall make this new institution as non-partisan, non-profit, and purely academic
research institution of Japanese parliamentary democracy, observing the values of both
experience of real politics and academic wisdom.
We shall also make maximum efforts to promote international understanding of Japanese
politics, considering the lack of the appreciation of Japanese politics in the world.
We would like to contribute to the development of parliamentary democracy in Japan by
conducting the above activities. |
