Government Overview:
Japan's government follows the constitution of 1947. The constitution of 1947 states "The Emperor shall be the symbol of the State and of the unity of the People, deriving his position from the will of the people with whom resides sovereign power." This basically is saying that the emperor is the symbol of the state but the people get the sovereignty. Japan's Diet has the legislative power. The House of Representatives has 480 members, who are elected for four-year terms. The House of Councilors has 242 members, who are elected for six-year terms. The Supreme Court has independent judiciary. Executive power lies with the cabinet, who are chosen and lead by the prime minister. The prime minister is elected by the Diet and is, most of the time, the leader of most of the party in that body.
This connects to the economic concept of market structures (monopoly). There is one leader/seller that is in charge in both Japan and in a monopoly. The leader of Japan is the emperor and the leader of a monopoly is the one seller that is in charge. In Japan's government, the emperor has lots of control over Japan just like how in a monopoly, the seller has lots of control over price. The barriers to entry to be the emperor of Japan is hard just like the barriers to entry in a monopoly. These are examples of how the emperor of Japan connects to the economic concept of monopoly.
This also connects to the economic concept of sole propriertorships. The leader of Japan is like the owner of the sole propriertorship. The people of Japan are like the consumers in a sole propriertorship. Just like how the owner of a sole propriertorship interacts with its comsumers to get their opinion on their business, the leader of Japan interacts with the people to hear their opinions on his/her decisions.
This connects to the economic concept of market structures (monopoly). There is one leader/seller that is in charge in both Japan and in a monopoly. The leader of Japan is the emperor and the leader of a monopoly is the one seller that is in charge. In Japan's government, the emperor has lots of control over Japan just like how in a monopoly, the seller has lots of control over price. The barriers to entry to be the emperor of Japan is hard just like the barriers to entry in a monopoly. These are examples of how the emperor of Japan connects to the economic concept of monopoly.
This also connects to the economic concept of sole propriertorships. The leader of Japan is like the owner of the sole propriertorship. The people of Japan are like the consumers in a sole propriertorship. Just like how the owner of a sole propriertorship interacts with its comsumers to get their opinion on their business, the leader of Japan interacts with the people to hear their opinions on his/her decisions.
Government/Economic Structure:
Japan's government structure is considered the following three structures: unitary state, consitutional monarchy, and a parlimentary system.
A unitary state is a state ruled as a single power where the central government has most of the power. A constitutional monarchy is when a monarch is the main leader, as long as the consitution is followed. A parlimentary system is a system where the parliment makes and passes the laws.
Japan is a free market economy.
A unitary state is a state ruled as a single power where the central government has most of the power. A constitutional monarchy is when a monarch is the main leader, as long as the consitution is followed. A parlimentary system is a system where the parliment makes and passes the laws.
Japan is a free market economy.
This connects to the economic concept of free market economy since Japan is a free market economy. This means that in Japan, the supply and demand of all products is determined by the consumers and there aren't any factors affecting the supply and demand, like government. Also, individuals in Japan own the factors of production (land, labor, and capital) and get to answer the three economic questions of what to produce, how to produce it, and who consumes what is produced.
Taxation Policy
Japan's taxation policy is a progressive tax system. This connects to the economic concept of progressive taxes because Japan's tax policy is progressive taxes. Progressive taxes means that a higher a person's income is, the higher percentage they have to pay in terms of taxes. In Japan, the tax rate ranges from 5%-45% depending on a person's income. In 2015, those in Japan that make 40 million yen or more have a tax rate of 45%. It is a popular debate if progressive taxes treat every equally and in my opinion, progressive taxes are an example of economic equity. It's fair that people who make a higher income have to pay higher taxes and people who make a lower income pay lower amount of taxes.
Ways the Government is trying to encourage economic growth:
There are several ways Japan's government is encouraging economic growth. Japan's government is very passionate about helping the development and operation of Japan's infrastructure. Improving Japan's infrastructure is promoting economic growth, because creating infrastructures like roads and bridges create jobs and creating jobs promotes economic growth. Better infrastructures lead to more wealth and a higher standard of living for Japan. This connects to the economic concepts of promoting growth and providing public goods(infrastructure). Second, the government uses its power to regulate Japan's economic sectors and activities. Over the past years, there has been mostly consistent economic growth and one of the main reasons is because of how good the government has been regulating the economic sections and activities. Last, Japan's government also uses its resources and power to set lots of regulations to protect industries from foreign competition. The less foreign competition Japan has to face, the more economic growth Japan has. Japan's goverment regulating economic sectors and protecting industries from foreign competition connects to the economic concepts of regulation. Japan regulating economic sectors is an example of regulation. Japan's government setting regulations to protect itsindustries from facing foreign competition is an example of regulation as well. These two government actions connect to regulation because both actions are examples of regulation.