House of Councillors - Sangiin

Japanese: 参議院 - さんぎいん

The Senate is the single chamber that, together with the House of Representatives, constitutes the National Diet, and corresponds to the Upper House in a bicameral parliament. The Senate is generally composed of popularly elected members, just like the Lower House, but is elected by indirect elections or by election methods that differ from the Lower House in terms of electoral districts and eligibility to be elected. It was established to restrain the excesses of the Lower House, and there are many examples of this in countries around the world.

In Japan, it was established after the Second World War. Under the Meiji Constitution (Constitution of the Empire of Japan), the upper house was the House of Peers, which was composed of members of the imperial family, nobility, and imperially appointed members, and played an extremely conservative and anti-democratic role. For this reason, the postwar draft constitution (also known as the MacArthur Draft) called for a unicameral system with only the House of Representatives. In response, the Japanese side requested a bicameral system (both houses) to ensure careful deliberations in the Diet, and the House of Councillors was established in 1947 (Showa 22). Its powers were deemed weaker than those of the House of Representatives (superiority of the House of Representatives), and the so-called lame bicameral system was adopted.

[Masaaki Ikeda]

Composition and Characteristics of the House of Councillors

The House of Councillors is composed of popularly elected members representing all citizens, with a total of 248 members, 100 of which are elected through proportional representation and 148 through electoral districts. Their terms of office are six years, with half of them up for re-election every three years. Until the Public Offices Election Law was revised in 1982, proportional representation members were called members elected through national constituencies, with 100 members elected from one nationwide constituency, but in the 1983 regular elections this was changed to a proportional representation system with closed lists, in which members vote for political parties. In 2001 this was changed to an open list system. Under the previous national constituency system, even one person could run for office, and the house was called a "castle of the minority," but since the proportional representation system is strictly a party-centered system, it is said that the possibility of a true representative for minorities has become extremely slim. The electoral districts for elected members of parliament are prefectures (Tottori/Shimane and Tokushima/Kochi are each districts covering two prefectures), and the number of seats ranges from 2 to 12, but as half of the seats are up for election, only half of them are elected in elections.

The Constitution expects the House of Councillors to correct the recklessness and excesses of the "politics of numbers" of the House of Representatives, and to carry out "politics of reason," to stand outside party disputes while based on the people, and to gather neutral and fair knowledge. Initially, many of the members did not belong to any political party, but belonged to the Ryokufukai, which took a pro- and pro-noun approach. However, they gradually moved in the direction of becoming a political party, and the Ryokufukai disappeared in the 1965 regular election. As a result of this political party structure, its representative function became the same as that of the House of Representatives, and there have been many discussions about its reason for existence, but it has also been pointed out and criticized that this tendency has become even stronger with the adoption of the proportional representation system. The most prominent criticism is that it is a "carbon copy of the House of Representatives," but the House of Councillors has also opposed this and has advocated various reforms.

[Masaaki Ikeda]

Proportional Representation Election Method

The election method is as follows: A political party or political organization that has five or more Diet members, receives more than 2/100 of the total valid votes in the most recent general election or regular election, and has ten or more candidates in the relevant House of Councillors election must submit a "House of Councillors list" containing the names of its members (Article 86-3 of the Public Offices Election Law). The selection and order of the people on the list is decided by the political party or organization in question. Voters write the name of the party or individual by hand, and the number of winners for each party is determined based on the number of votes received by each party, etc. using the D'Hondt method of allocation (a method in which the number of votes received by each party is divided by integers 1, 2, 3, and 4 in order, and seats are allocated in order from the party with the largest quotient; D'Hondt is the name of the Belgian who invented it), and the winners are determined by the number of individual votes received (Article 95-3 of the same law). This method is called the non-binding list method.

[Masaaki Ikeda]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

衆議院とともに国会を構成する一院で、二院制議会における上院にあたる。上院は一般に、下院と同様に民選議員によって構成されるが、間接選挙あるいは選挙区・被選挙権などを下院と異にする選挙方法により選出される。下院の行きすぎを抑制するために設けられ、世界各国にその例は多い。

　日本では、第二次世界大戦後に設けられた。明治憲法（大日本帝国憲法）では、上院として貴族院があり、皇族、華族および勅選議員により構成され、きわめて保守的、反民主主義的な役割を果たしていた。そのため戦後の憲法草案（マッカーサー草案ともよばれる）では衆議院だけの一院制をとることになっていた。これに対し日本側は、国会での審議の慎重を期するため二院制（両院制）にするよう要請し、1947年（昭和22）参議院が設けられた。その権限については衆議院より弱いもの（衆議院の優越）とされ、いわゆる跛行的両院制(はこうてきりょういんせい)がとられた。

［池田政章］

参議院の構成と特質

参議院は全国民を代表する公選議員によって構成され、定数248人のうち、100人を比例代表選出議員、148人を選挙区選出議員とし、任期は6年で、3年ごとに半数が改選される。比例代表選出議員については、1982年の公職選挙法改正前までは全国区選出議員といい、全国1選挙区から100人を選出したが、1983年の通常選挙から拘束名簿式比例代表制にかわり、政党に投票することになった。さらに、2001年（平成13）からは非拘束名簿式に改められた。従来の全国区制の下では、1人でも立候補することができ「少数者の城」ともいわれたが、比例代表制はあくまで政党中心の制度であるため、真の少数者の代表がたつ可能性はきわめて薄くなったといわれている。選挙区選出議員は都道府県が選挙区（鳥取・島根と徳島・高知はそれぞれ2県の区域が選挙区）で、その定数は2～12人であるが、半数改選であるから選挙での選出はその半分である。

　憲法が参議院に期待するところは、衆議院の「数の政治」に対し、その軽率や行きすぎを是正し、「理の政治」を行うことにあり、国民に基礎を置きながら政党の争いの外にたち、中立公正な知識を結集することであった。当初、議員は政党に属さず、是々非々主義をとる緑風会に属する者が多数いたが、しだいに政党化の方向をたどり、1965年（昭和40）の通常選挙で緑風会は消滅した。こうして政党化された結果その代表的機能が衆議院と変わらないようになったため、その存在理由について種々議論されてきたが、さらに比例代表制の採用により、この傾向がいっそう強まったことが指摘され、批判されている。「衆議院のカーボン・コピー」という評言はその最たるものであるが、参議院もそれに抗して、これまでさまざまな改革論を主張している。

［池田政章］

比例代表による選出方法

選出方法は次のとおりである。5人以上の所属国会議員を有し、直近の総選挙もしくは通常選挙で全有効投票の100分の2以上の投票を得、当該参議院議員選挙で10人以上の候補者を有すること、のうち、いずれかに該当する政党もしくは政治団体が、所属する者の氏名を記載した「参議院名簿」を届け出ておく（公職選挙法86条の3）。名簿登載者の選定と順番は、当該政党などが決める。投票は政党名もしくは個人名を自書して行い、各政党等の得票数に基づいて、ドント式配分（各政党の得票数を1、2、3、4という整数で順に割り、商の大きい政党から順次議席を配分する方式で、ドントは考案者であるベルギー人の名）により各政党等の当選人数を決定し、個人得票数の多い順に、当選人を決定する（同法95条の3）。この方式は非拘束名簿式といわれる。

［池田政章］

[参照項目] | 国会 | 国会議員 | 衆議院 | 上院 | 選挙 | 日本国憲法 | 比例代表制 | 緑風会

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