civic-engagement

Seven Years of Assembly Seat Reduction Debates — The Time Structure of 'Candidate Shortage' and Seat Apportionment Ordinance Revisions in Japanese Local Assemblies

Using the assembly speech dataset constructed by the machikarte lab, this article aggregates speeches containing terms such as 'assembly seat reduction,' 'seat apportionment ordinance,' 'candidate shortage,' and 'uncontested elections' across 2018-2024. The annual trend holds at a steady level from 2018-2020, dips relatively in 2021-2022, and rises again in 2023-2024, with 2024 reaching one of the highest levels in the seven-year window. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications research group report (2020) and the Local Autonomy Act revision discussions (2023) correspond to the time structure of assembly mentions.