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I admit I don't know much about Japan's politics, but isn't an old bureaucracy made up of professionals better then pure political leadership? In my country (Ro

I admit I don't know much about Japan's politics, but isn't an old bureaucracy made up of professionals better then pure political leadership? In my country (Romania) we have the other extreme: every public institution has political leadership, changed every 4 years, up to high-schools. No only the managers tend to be less prepared, but if you add a bit of corruption, of which we have in large supply, you end with effectively a market for buying/selling these position. I'm not saying this is the case in other democracies, of course, but I do have a healthy respect for a bureaucracy which discourages promotions based on political reasons.

wlievens 17y ago
It's a balance that constantly shifts, everywhere. On the one hand, we want professionals (on the condition that they are honest), on the other hand we want politicians (on the condition that they are competent). Making a certain function politically controlled isn't necessarily a bad or good thing. On the one hand, it implies some level of accountability. On the other hand, it brings along the negatives of politics over professional concerns. There's probably a paradox in there somewhere, like so many others in democracy.