House of Representatives - shugiin

In a bicameral parliament, the House of Representatives is the house made up of popularly elected members, and is equivalent to the Lower House. In Japan, it constitutes the National Diet together with the House of Councillors. The original House of Representatives was established on November 29, 1890 (Meiji 23) under the provisions of the Meiji Constitution (Constitution of the Empire of Japan), and together with the House of Peers, it constituted the Imperial Diet. The current House of Representatives was established on May 20, 1947 (Showa 22) after World War II under the provisions of the Constitution of Japan. Since then, it has been made up of publicly elected members selected under a medium-sized constituency system for many years, but in 1994 (Heisei 6), the electoral system was revised and since then, members have been selected under a single-seat constituency system that incorporates proportional representation (a system in which single-seat constituencies and proportional representation are combined). The fixed number of seats is 475 (295 elected by single-seat constituencies and 180 elected by proportional representation), and the term of office is four years.

Generally, in a bicameral system, the lower house is considered to directly represent the will of the people, with a different organizational principle from the upper house. Japan is no exception, and the power of the House of Representatives is stronger than that of the House of Councillors. For example, the House of Representatives has the power to pass a vote of no confidence in the Cabinet, which the House of Councillors does not have, and the decisions of the House of Representatives take precedence over those of the House of Councillors in matters such as passing laws and budgets, approving treaties, and nominating the Prime Minister. Such superiority of the House of Representatives is a phenomenon common to modern democratic nations. The House of Representatives has a system for reflecting the will of the people by dissolving the House of Representatives, but it is said that there is a high possibility that the will of the people represented by the House of Representatives is actually a correct reflection of the will of the people, and this is turned into a political myth (known as the "myth of the people's representative"). Based on the distrust that lurks in the formation of such popular politics, we have seen phenomena such as lobbying by so-called pressure groups, demonstrations based on collective action, and policy proposals supported by citizen movements. In order for the House of Representatives to function as an institution representing public will, constant monitoring and control by the people is considered to be an essential condition.

The House of Representatives electoral districts and the number of seats were revised in 1964, 1975, 1986, and 1992 during the era of multi-seat constituencies, but the ratio of the number of seats to the electoral population at each election varied greatly between constituencies (known as the problem of disproportionate seats), and the disparity between constituencies was far from being eliminated. As a result, there have been frequent lawsuits brought against the constitutionality of the system, which claims to violate equality of suffrage. In the electoral system revised in 1994, the disparity between single-seat constituencies was slightly more than two times, narrowing the disparity, but the fundamental solution has yet to be found.

[Masaaki Ikeda]

"The Constitutional Structure of Modern Nation-States" by Yoichi Higuchi (1994, University of Tokyo Press) "The Shortcomings of Democracy" by Masayuki Uchino (2005, Nippon Hyoronsha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

二院制議会において、民選議員によって組織される一院で、下院にあたる。日本では参議院とともに国会を構成する。1890年（明治23）11月29日、明治憲法（大日本帝国憲法）の規定により開院され、貴族院とともに帝国議会を構成したのがもとの衆議院で、現在のものは第二次世界大戦後の1947年（昭和22）5月20日、日本国憲法の規定により開院された。以後、長年にわたり中選挙区制によって選ばれた公選議員により組織されてきたが、1994年（平成6）に選挙制度が改められ、以後、議員は比例代表制を加味した小選挙区制（小選挙区比例代表並立制）によって選ばれている。定数は475（小選挙区選出295、比例代表選出180）、任期4年である。

　一般に二院制（両院制）においては、下院は、上院とはその組織原理を異にし、国民の意思を直接代表するものと考えられているが、日本も例外ではなく、衆議院の権限は参議院より強い。たとえば、参議院のもたない内閣不信任決議権を有し、法律・予算の議決や条約の承認、内閣総理大臣の指名などにおいて、衆議院の議決は参議院の議決に優先する。このような衆議院（下院）の優越は、一般に現代の民主国家に共通する現象である。衆議院では、解散により民意を反映させる制度があるが、衆議院に代表される国民の意思が、現実に正しく民意を反映しているかどうかについては、それが政治的神話に転化する可能性が高いとされる（「国民代表の神話性」などといわれる）。このような民意政治の形成に潜む不信を基にして、これまで、いわゆる圧力団体によるロビイング、集団行動に基づくデモンストレーション、市民運動によって支えられた政策の提言などの現象がみられた。衆議院が民意を代表する機関として活動するためには、これに対する国民の不断の監視とコントロールが必須(ひっす)の条件と考えられる。

　衆議院の選挙区、定数に関して、中選挙区時代に、1964年、1975年、1986年、1992年と更正されたが、それでも各選挙時において議員定数と選挙人の人口との比率が各選挙区の間で大幅に異なり（議員定数不均衡の問題という）、選挙区の間の格差の解消にはほど遠かった。そのため選挙権の平等に反するとして違憲訴訟がたびたび起こされてきた。1994年に改正された選挙制度における小選挙区間の較差は2倍をやや上回る範囲となっており、較差は縮まったが、根本的解決はまだされていない。

［池田政章］

『樋口陽一著『近代国民国家の憲法構造』（1994・東京大学出版会）』▽『内野正幸著『民主制の欠点』（2005・日本評論社）』

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