61138    For a start, we want to go over the political mechanism, which is completely overlooked yet it is naturally important.

61139    First of all, are not both politicians and voters assuming that Diet members are "agents" as opposed to "representatives" ?

61140    Are we not forgetting that Diet members represent the entire nation as opposed to being mandated by individual constituents or regions?

61141    Additionally, have we misplaced the mechanism where, unlike the bureaucratic institution, people can have direct control over politics?

61142    You may say, "Why, it's so obvious."

61143    However, when we trace the history of how politics have become distant from us, this is where we arrive.

61144    Because we have this misconception that Diet members are "agents" working for regions, individuals, or industries, our electoral system has been reduced to "the best and wisest system but distorted" where those who have bridges and roads built in their own ridings to benefit industries and the like are considered "good Diet members."

61145    As a matter of fact, in its editorial comments the Tokyo Nichi-Nichi Shimbun severely criticized the 1925 Universal Suffrage Law for its substance being nowhere near the standard for the parliamentary system of the world at that time.

61146    This included the exclusion of women from the electorates, the voting age being set too high at the age of 25 or older, and voter qualifications being changed for the worse.

61147    Another thing is that this election law had an important aspect that one might say was the source that created the distortion as we see today.

61148    Election campaigns, which had been unrestricted for the considerable part up to that time, were brought under stiff regulations by partisan interests and strategies.

61149    The banning of door-to-door canvassing that had been incorporated into that law at the time still continues to exist today.

61150    And both candidates and voters have come down to this day without learning or experiencing the know-how of "door-to-door canvassing," which is fundamentally the original form of the election campaign seeking voter support by appealing their policies to the public...

61151    It has been fifty years since the end of World War II and at this juncture Japan has decided to revisit the single-seat consituency system, that is "the original point where the wise system known as the election began."

61152    However, we want to affirm that this system is one that tests the competence of voters on the choosing side.