The English translation is below
27日、衆議院選挙がありましてですね、
結果は国民の怒りを反映して、与党が過半数割れとなりました。
ここでは政党うんぬんの話より、選挙システムや情勢などを
お伝えしますね
投票日の2週間前くらいに、各家庭に投票所入場券の
入った封筒が届きます
当たり前のように送られてくるので、
先人たちが幾重もの困難を乗り越え、
勝ち得た権利であることを忘れそうです
あとはそれを握りしめて近くの投票所へ行くだけ
けっこう家から歩いていけるところにありますよ。
別に地域内のどこの投票所でもかまわないので、
私は出かけたついでに期日前投票を済ませてきました
所要時間約3分
こんなに簡単なのに、なぜこんなにも投票率が低いのだろう。。。
54％って。。。
特に若者の投票率がパッとしない
理由の１つとしては、日本は少子高齢化が世界でもトップクラスなので
1人1票では、若者は高齢者に数で勝てません
国連のデータによると。。。見てくださいよ！この表！！
これが日本の政治はシルバーデモクラシーと呼ばれるゆえんで、
リンカーンの有名な
government of the people , by the people , for the people をもじって
年寄りの、年寄りによる、年寄りのための政治、と言われています
民主主義って難しいですよね
アメリカの大統領選挙をみていてもそう思います
いろいろ問題はあるけれど、それでも、私は日本は民主主義の国で
よかったな、と思っている1人です
On the 27th, the general election for the House of Representatives was held. The results reflected the public’s anger, with the ruling party losing its majority.
Here, I’ll focus less on the parties themselves and more on the election system and the overall situation.
About two weeks before the voting day, every household receives an envelope containing a voting card for their polling station.
It arrives so routinely that it’s easy to forget that this right was hard-won by our predecessors, who overcame countless difficulties to secure it.
Then all you have to do is take it and head to your nearby polling station — most are within walking distance.
It doesn’t matter which polling station in your area you go to, so I took the opportunity to cast my vote early while I was out.
It took me about three minutes.
It’s so simple, yet why is voter turnout still so low… 54%! Especially among young people, it’s pretty disappointing.
One reason is that Japan has one of the world’s highest ratios of elderly people due to its declining birthrate. With one person, one vote, young people can’t outnumber the older generation.
According to UN data… just look at this table!
This is why Japanese politics is sometimes called a “silver democracy.” Playing on Abraham Lincoln’s famous phrase, “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” it’s said to be “of the elderly, by the elderly, for the elderly.”
Democracy is complicated, isn’t it? Even watching the U.S. presidential elections makes me feel that way.
There are certainly many issues, but still, I’m one of those who feel grateful that Japan is a democratic country.
