Class Supplement (TOEFL Essay, one important change in your government)

Suppose you had the power to make one important change in the government of your country. What change would you like to make, and why?

☆”One important change” → not two, not a marginal change
☆”in the government” → should be related to government reform

☆Hints for Points
money politics (“seiji to kane” no mondai):
corruption, politicians receiving money from interest groups (big business) in return for doing favor for them, which in turn support them in elections (anti-corruption laws have been enacted but there have always been loopholes and this problem never ends. Part of the problem is that those who make these laws are the very people who are regulated by them, politicians. Also, whistle-blowing will cost one’s job.)
→ establishing a committee which is totally independent of the public sector and which makes original budget plans and has authority to intervene government spending

the iron triangle of bureaucrats, politicians, and big business (“se-kan-gyo no shihai-taisei” and absence of accountability:
bureaucrats, politicians, and big business (large corporations) having weakened Japanese economy mainly by allocating large part of budget for building unnecessary airports, bridges, roads, facilities, and so on for decades, and no one taking the responsibility (the Democratic Party of Japan has promised to change this situation but group-orientation is the foundation of the Japanese society and therefore it is not going to change so easily.)
→ inviting a retired former president of the United States as an advisor for the cabinet

amakudari (decent from heaven or golden parachutes):
retired bureaucrats landing in government-related companies and receive a large sum of rewards for nominal positions (Budget screenings have been weeding out many of these cases, but in some cases placement decisions had been made right before the screening.)
→ giving bureaucrats opportunities to lean that there are many aspects of life that brings satisfaction other than money and power

second-or-third-generation politicians:
politicians whose fathers and/or grandfathers were also politicians (They are usually from wealthy prestigious families and have no feel for nor the perspective of ordinary citizens.)
→ setting a ceiling on the total sum of the property and resources of a candidate for representatives and prevent super rich people from becoming politicians