Parliamentary government

Japanese: 議会政治 - ぎかいせいじ（英語表記）parliamentary government

A political system in which a parliament based on the principle of national representation is the basis for political management as the highest organ of state power. It is also called representative government. The premise of normal parliamentary politics is that elections that meet the principles of normality, equality, secrecy, directness, and freedom are held, the superiority of the legislative branch over the executive branch is ensured both institutionally and practically, and parliamentary management that respects minority opinions based on the principle of open meetings is guaranteed. Parliamentary politics became common when parliamentary sovereignty was established under the civil revolution of the 18th century. However, such parliamentary politics in civil society was based on the homogeneity of those who participated in politics, so it was relatively easy to reach a consensus in parliament. However, the emergence of mass democracy (→ mass democracy) with the expansion of suffrage after that destroyed the social homogeneity that parliamentary politics was based on, and had a major impact on the way parliamentary politics was based on discussion and persuasion, leading to a relative decline in the status of parliament due to the hollowing out of the deliberative function and the increasing influence of the executive branch. As a result, in the early 20th century, people such as Laski began to call out the crisis of parliamentary politics. In particular, the world wars and economic depressions further accelerated the influence of the executive branch, while the development of party politics and the diversification of social values complicated the power structure in parliament, significantly weakening the function of parliamentary politics based on 18th century values. On the other hand, with the expansion of the bureaucracy and changes in the structure of society and the economy, the role of politics has increased since the second half of the 20th century, and there has been a phenomenon in which the role of parliament in adjusting interests has been reevaluated, with some people beginning to whisper about the restoration of parliament. However, even in this case, expectations of parliamentary politics are still based on the homogeneous society of the 18th century, and in that sense, some are of the opinion that the crisis of parliamentary politics is a crisis of parliamentary political theory.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

国民代表の原理に基づく議会が国権の最高機関として政治運営の基本になっている政治形態。代議政治ともいう。普通，平等，秘密，直接，自由などの原理を満たした選挙が行われ，行政部に対する立法部の優位が制度的にも実質的にも確保され，会議公開の原則に基づく少数意見の尊重の議会運営が保障されることが正常な議会政治の前提となる。議会政治は 18世紀の市民革命のもとで議会主権が確立されることによって一般化された。ただ，このような市民社会における議会政治は政治に参加する者の同質性を前提としていたため，議会における合意形成も比較的容易であった。しかしその後の選挙権の拡大に伴う大衆民主主義 (→マス・デモクラシー ) の登場は，議会政治が前提としてきた社会的同質性を崩壊させ，議論と説得に基づく議会政治のあり方に大きな影響を与え，審議機能の形骸化と行政部の影響力の増大により議会の相対的な地位低下を招くにいたった。その結果，20世紀初頭にはラスキをはじめとして議会政治の危機が叫ばれるようになった。特に世界大戦と経済恐慌はさらに行政部の影響力を加速する一方で，政党政治の発達と社会的価値の多元化は議会の勢力構図を複雑化し，18世紀的価値に基づく議会政治の機能を著しく低下させることになった。その一方で，官僚制の肥大化や社会や経済の構造の変化に伴い，20世紀後半以降，政治の果す役割が増大し，議会の利益調整機能が再評価される現象もみられ，一部には議会の復権がささやかれるようになってきている。しかし，その場合も議会政治に期待されているものは依然として 18世紀的な同質社会におけるものであり，その意味で議会政治の危機は議会政治理論の危機であるという意見もある。

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