Science and technology policy-making process in the Japanese government

The purpose of this paper is to show some of the characteristics of the policy–making process of Japan's science and technology policy. To elucidate them, the author distinguishes three stages in the policy process, and introduces a new concept named 'policy module'. This method reveals the closed nature of the policy formation and the important role of the human interactive factor in gathering information and consensus–building. On the other hand, the consensus–building system mainly based on informal negotiations is not necessarily effective for handling technological issues. This suggests the limitation of the closed policy–making process in specialized policies such as science and technology policy.