U. S. Government: Democracy In Action

"The Japanese Diet"

Introduction
In this chapter, you have learned about consolidated democracies, discussed the difficulties facing emerging democracies, evaluated authoritarian states, and analyzed global security issues. Democratic government can take different forms, and in this activity you will take a closer look at one of the world's parliamentary democracies—the Japanese Diet.

Destination Title: The House of Representatives

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Directions
Start at the Web site for the House of Representatives of the Japanese Diet.

• Click on and read the "Message from the Speaker."
• Return to the previous page and click on Guide to the House.
• From this page explore the topics Election of Diet Members, Sessions of the Diet, The Speaker, and Legislative Proceedings.
• Browse these topics, taking notes as you go.

After you have read through the information, answer the following questions.

1			Briefly outline the history of voting rights in Japan.
2			What are the three kinds of Diet sessions? How is each convoked, or called into session?
3			What are the powers of the Speaker of the House?
4			What must a member of the Diet do to initiate a bill?
5			Click on Diagram of Legislative Proceedings from the list of topics on the screen. Print out this diagram of legislative procedures. Then conduct research about legislative proceedings in the U.S. Congress. On a separate piece of paper, sketch a diagram of how bills move through Congress. Compare the two diagrams, and at the bottom of your paper list any differences you see between the procedures in the two countries.