House of Peers - Kizokuin

A bicameral parliament, consisting of hereditary nobles and high-ranking officials. Britain, which has a long history of parliamentary systems, had a grand council of nobles as an advisory body to the king since the time of William I (reigned 1066-87). However, as minor nobles and citizen representatives gradually joined, it later split into a bicameral system consisting of the House of Lords, consisting of hereditary nobles, and the House of Commons, consisting of citizen representatives. With the development of democratic politics, real political power was transferred to the publicly elected House of Commons, and the House of Lords became a nominal existence. The House of Lords system was found in European countries influenced by Britain, such as France during the constitutional monarchy era, the Kingdom of Prussia before World War I, German countries such as Bavaria, and Austria, but it does not exist in modern times except in Britain.

In Japan, the Imperial Diet under the Meiji Constitution was composed of the House of Representatives and the House of Peers. In terms of authority, the House of Representatives and the House of Peers were considered to be roughly equal, but while the House of Representatives was composed of popularly elected members, the House of Peers was composed of members of the Imperial family, members of the nobility, and members appointed by Imperial decree, as stipulated by the House of Peers Act (Article 34 of the former Constitution).

According to the House of Peers Act, any member of the Imperial Family who reached adulthood automatically became a member. Peerage members who held the title of prince or marquis became members automatically when they reached 30 years of age (25 years before the 1925 amendment), and those who held the titles of count or baron (176 before the 1925 amendment) numbered 150 in total, and were elected by vote among those with the same title, with their term of office being seven years. There were three types of Imperially appointed members: (1) 125 men with the title of 30 years or more, selected by Imperial command from among those who had made distinguished contributions to the nation or were knowledgeable; (2) four members elected by mutual vote from among the members of the Imperial Academy for a term of seven years (added by the 1925 amendment); and (3) up to 66 members elected by mutual vote from each prefecture as large taxpayers, with a term of seven years.

As is clear from the above organization, the House of Peers represented the privileged ruling class under the old constitution, such as large landowners, capitalists, and high-ranking bureaucrats, and at the same time played the role of a barrier to the Emperor System. As the House of Representatives, consisting of elected members, became a political party, conflicts between political parties and clan-based bureaucrats came to the surface, and the House of Peers sometimes held the casting vote, sometimes clashing with the government, and sometimes allied with the government to suppress the opposition. Examples of the former are conflicts with the government over the budget proposal during the fourth Ito Hirobumi cabinet (1901), and the proposal to abolish the county system (1907) and the proposal to revise the election law (1912) during the first and second Saionji Kinmochi cabinets, and the support for the establishment of the Kiyoura Keigo cabinet (1924) is an example of the latter. A partial reform of the House of Peers was carried out in 1925 as a direct result of the dissatisfaction of the three pro-constitution factions against the attitude of the House of Peers regarding the establishment of the Kiyoura Cabinet.

In the Showa era, the military rose to power, and with the end of party politics following the February 26 Incident, parliamentary politics became meaningless, and the House of Peers also lost its reason for existence. With the coming into force of the Constitution of Japan in 1947 (Showa 22), the House of Peers was abolished. Under the new constitution, the bicameral system was maintained, but both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors were to be composed of popularly elected members.

[Yamano Kazumi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

二院制の国会で、世襲の貴族や高官などによって構成される議院。議会制の長い歴史をもつイギリスでは、古くウィリアム1世（在位1066～87）のころから国王の諮問機関として大貴族よりなる大会議magnum conciliumを有していたが、しだいに小貴族、市民代表が参加することになり、のちに分裂して、世襲制の貴族階級によって構成される貴族院House of Lordsと、市民代表からなる庶民院House of Commonsの二院制が成立した。民主政治の発展とともに、公選制の庶民院に政治の実権が移り、貴族院は名目的存在となった。貴族院の制度は、イギリスの影響を受けたヨーロッパ諸国、すなわち立憲君主制時代のフランス、第一次世界大戦以前のプロシア王国、バイエルンなどのドイツ諸国、オーストリアなどにみられたが、現代では、イギリスを除いて存在しない。

　わが国では、明治憲法下の帝国議会が衆議院および貴族院から構成された。権限のうえでは衆議院と貴族院はほぼ同等とされたが、衆議院が公選議員によって構成されるのに対して、貴族院は貴族院令の定めるところにより、皇族議員、華族議員および勅任議員によって組織された（旧憲法34条）。

　貴族院令によれば、皇族議員は、成年に達した皇族は当然議員となる。華族議員のうち公侯爵を有する者は、満30年（大正14年〈1925〉の改正前は満25年）に達すれば当然議員となり、伯子男爵を有する者は、総数150人（大正14年改正前は176人）で、同爵者中の選挙により選出され、その任期を7年とした。勅選議員は、(1)終身議員として、国家に勲労ある者または学識ある者のなかから勅選される満30年以上の男子125人、(2)帝国学士院会員より互選される任期7年の議員4名（大正14年の改正により追加）、(3)多額納税者議員として各府県から多額納税者100人に対して1名の割合で互選された任期7年の議員66名以内、の3種類があった。

　以上の組織で明らかなように、貴族院は、大土地所有者、資本家、高級官僚など、旧憲法時代における特権支配層を代表し、また同時に天皇制の防塞(ぼうさい)たる役割を担うものであった。公選議員よりなる衆議院の政党化に伴い、政党と藩閥官僚との対立が表面化すると、貴族院がときにキャスティング・ボートを握り、あるときは政府と対立し、またあるときは政府と結んで野党を抑えた。第四次伊藤博文(ひろぶみ)内閣における予算案（1901）、第一次、第二次西園寺公望(さいおんじきんもち)内閣における郡制廃止案（1907）、選挙法改正案（1912）をめぐる政府との対立が前者の例であり、清浦奎吾(けいご)内閣の成立（1924）に対する支援が後者の例である。清浦内閣の成立に関しての貴族院の態度に反発する護憲三派の不満を直接の契機として、1925年、貴族院の一部改革が行われた。

　昭和に入り、軍部が台頭し、二・二六事件による政党政治の終焉(しゅうえん)とともに議会政治は有名無実となり、貴族院もその存在意義を失った。1947年（昭和22）日本国憲法の施行により貴族院は廃止された。新憲法下でも二院制は維持されたが、衆議院、参議院とも公選議員により組織されることとなった。

［山野一美］

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