The year 2019 marks the seventh anniversary of Shinzo Abe's return to office,alongside the administration's obsession with Constitutional amendment.During the 25th House of Councillors selection in July,Prime ...The year 2019 marks the seventh anniversary of Shinzo Abe's return to office,alongside the administration's obsession with Constitutional amendment.During the 25th House of Councillors selection in July,Prime Minister Abe changed the rules applied for the four national elections in 2012,wrote the Self-Defense Forces into the Constitution and the Liberal Democratic Party(LDP)convention,and deliberately made the amendment a focal point of controversy in his election campaign.However,when the results of the election came out,the pro-amendment forces,with the LDP at their core,didn't reach the two-thirds majority threshold required for Constitutional revision.Going forwards,the Abe-led Liberal Democratic Party will strive to consolidate Constitutional amendment forces in the National Diet,hoping to cross the majority threshold,and at the same time to coerce opposition parties to comply with passing LDP draft revisions to the Constitution in the National Diet as soon as possible,in order to submit these to national referendum.In the meantime,preparatory works for this referendum are being carried out through the use of political resources to mobilize public support.Whether Abe can reach the political objective of Constitutional amendment during his current term of office and how the Constitutional issue in Japan will play out is sure to attract global attention.展开更多
The Constitution (17th Amendment) Act 2018, passed on this 8th July 2018, provides for the tenure of the reserved seats for women in Parliament to be extended for a period of 25 years from the first day of the 11th pa...The Constitution (17th Amendment) Act 2018, passed on this 8th July 2018, provides for the tenure of the reserved seats for women in Parliament to be extended for a period of 25 years from the first day of the 11th parliament. In Bangladesh, there is a consensus in general that women’s political participation is necessary for both the democratic development of the country and women’s empowerment. Studies and research on the constitutionality of the Reserved Seat Provision for women in Parliament show that this Reserved Seat Provision does not actually help women impact in the political process in Parliament and/or in achieving the goals of women empowerment. Hence, this paper shall discuss how this Reserved Seat Provision is affecting the election system, leaving a scope for it to be less democratic, effective, and meaningful. This paper shall highlight that merely a sizable presence of women in Parliament for such a long period won’t aid in achieving the aims and objectives of women empowerment. This paper shall conclude with the recommendation that the Reserved Seat Provision may be integrated in the Constitution in a manner that provides for direct election of reserved seat nominations for women in Parliament and that too should not be in the Constitution for an indefinite period.展开更多
基金This paper presents the initial findings of a major research project entitled"Research on Postwar Japanese Politics,Diplomacy and Future Trends/5 funded by the Ministry of Education(Project Number:14JZD033).
文摘The year 2019 marks the seventh anniversary of Shinzo Abe's return to office,alongside the administration's obsession with Constitutional amendment.During the 25th House of Councillors selection in July,Prime Minister Abe changed the rules applied for the four national elections in 2012,wrote the Self-Defense Forces into the Constitution and the Liberal Democratic Party(LDP)convention,and deliberately made the amendment a focal point of controversy in his election campaign.However,when the results of the election came out,the pro-amendment forces,with the LDP at their core,didn't reach the two-thirds majority threshold required for Constitutional revision.Going forwards,the Abe-led Liberal Democratic Party will strive to consolidate Constitutional amendment forces in the National Diet,hoping to cross the majority threshold,and at the same time to coerce opposition parties to comply with passing LDP draft revisions to the Constitution in the National Diet as soon as possible,in order to submit these to national referendum.In the meantime,preparatory works for this referendum are being carried out through the use of political resources to mobilize public support.Whether Abe can reach the political objective of Constitutional amendment during his current term of office and how the Constitutional issue in Japan will play out is sure to attract global attention.
文摘The Constitution (17th Amendment) Act 2018, passed on this 8th July 2018, provides for the tenure of the reserved seats for women in Parliament to be extended for a period of 25 years from the first day of the 11th parliament. In Bangladesh, there is a consensus in general that women’s political participation is necessary for both the democratic development of the country and women’s empowerment. Studies and research on the constitutionality of the Reserved Seat Provision for women in Parliament show that this Reserved Seat Provision does not actually help women impact in the political process in Parliament and/or in achieving the goals of women empowerment. Hence, this paper shall discuss how this Reserved Seat Provision is affecting the election system, leaving a scope for it to be less democratic, effective, and meaningful. This paper shall highlight that merely a sizable presence of women in Parliament for such a long period won’t aid in achieving the aims and objectives of women empowerment. This paper shall conclude with the recommendation that the Reserved Seat Provision may be integrated in the Constitution in a manner that provides for direct election of reserved seat nominations for women in Parliament and that too should not be in the Constitution for an indefinite period.
