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RELATED TOPIC:
THE EMPEROR

RELATED TOPIC:
THE PRIME MINISTER

RELATED TOPIC:
THE JAPANESE BUREAUCRACY

RELATED TOPIC:
INTEREST GROUPS IN JAPANESE POLITICS

RELATED TOPIC:
ELECTION LAWS

RELATED TOPIC:
THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM

 
THE GOVERNMENT OF MODERN JAPAN:
THE JAPANESE DIET (PARLIAMENT)

Relative Powers of the Two Houses

Gerald L. Curtis :: The lower house is more powerful than the upper house, particularly because treaties, the budget, and the selection of the prime minister are determined by the lower house.

That is, if the upper house makes a decision that is different from the decision made by the lower house on a treaty, on passing the budget, and on the selection of the prime minister, the decision of the lower house rules.

So, the upper house cannot influence those decisions as long as the lower house has a majority — as long as a majority of the lower house members are determined that their position will hold.

Also, if, on other legislation, the upper house votes differently from the lower house, the lower house decision will become law if the lower house once again passes the bill by a two-thirds vote. So that in the end, if two-thirds of the members of the lower house want to see a particular bill come into law, there is no way that the upper house can prevent that from happening.

But two-thirds is very difficult for any one party or a coalition of parties to achieve under most circumstances. So in fact the upper house has a lot of ability to stop legislation from being passed, because legislation that might get a simple majority of support in the lower house, if the upper house votes against it, cannot be passed, since most legislation cannot get a two-thirds vote from the members of the lower house.

This creates a system in which upper house members are not as powerful and do not have as much prestige in the Japanese system, and do not play as important a role as members of the lower house, but where nonetheless the existence of the second house, that is the upper house, affects the legislative process in many important ways.