...Japan is a representative democracy. The Diet (parliament), the highest organ of state, consists of two chambers: the more powerful lower house, the House of Representatives, and the upper house, the House of Councillors. Executive power rests with the cabinet, which is responsible to the Diet. The Diet is responsible for designating the prime minister. The emperor is head of state, although his function is purely symbolic. Party politics is dominated by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has ruled Japan either alone or in coalition for most of the period since 1955. The most recent lower house election was in September 2005, when the LDP won 296 of the 480 seats contested. The party currently governs in a coalition with New Komeito, which is backed by one of Japan's largest lay Buddhist organisations, Soka Gakkai....
|
