著者

国分 航士

出版者

公益財団法人史学会

雑誌

史學雜誌 (ISSN:00182478)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.119, no.4, pp.479-505, 2010-04-20

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Article 30 of the Meiji Constitution pertaining to petitions filed by imperial subjects specified that "rules" for concrete procedures were to be established; and the Parliament Act (Gi'inho 議院法) concerning petitions to the congress, and the Petitions Act (Seiganrei 請願令) pertaining to petitions filed with the Emperor and administrative bureaus were promulgated as a result. This article examines the process of promulgating the Petitions Act by discussing why the act was passed in 1917. in addition, the article discusses the new link that was established between the Emperor and his subjects (or rather, the nation) through the enactment of the petition system through an examination of the conditions before, during and after the enactment of the Constitution. Because the act of petitioning the Emperor was prohibited prior to the Constitution's enactment, focus was placed more on appeals to administrative bureaus at that time. However, in the process of enacting the Constitution and studying European practices, petitioning the Emperor came to be interpreted as being important as petitioning the legislature and administrative bureaus. After the Constitution was enacted, petitioning the Emperor became the subject of a debate between Ito Hirobumi (伊藤博文) and Ito Miyoji (伊東巳代治) within the process of preparing an imperial household system. The argument concerned how petitioning should be understood in terms of the "will of the people": Would it be a means of "procuring the will of the people" or "probing the will of the people?" Furthermore, heated debates arose on how the Emperor and the legislature should be positioned within the framework of the Constitution. For example, what would be the interrelationship between petitioning the two (i.e., expressing the "will of the people") and perceptions concerning the relationship between the monarch and his subjects. The promulgation of the Petitions Act was also interpreted as a measure responding to a changing society and as a law protecting the rights of imperial subjects. Consequently, the Petitions Act, which attempted to systematically lay out the petition process, was a piece of legislation that "probed the will of the people" and, as a matter, was the first law of its kind to do so under the Constitution. Furthermore, the Act represented a new linkage between the Emperor and the nation, through the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, who was put in charge of handling petitions filed with the Emperor.

著者

国分 航士

出版者

公益財団法人 史学会

雑誌

史学雑誌 (ISSN:00182478)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.118, no.12, pp.2177-2178, 2009-12-20 (Released:2017-12-01)

著者

国分 航士

出版者

公益財団法人 史学会

雑誌

史学雑誌 (ISSN:00182478)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.119, no.4, pp.479-505, 2010-04-20 (Released:2017-12-01)

---

Article 30 of the Meiji Constitution pertaining to petitions filed by imperial subjects specified that "rules" for concrete procedures were to be established; and the Parliament Act (Gi'inho 議院法) concerning petitions to the congress, and the Petitions Act (Seiganrei 請願令) pertaining to petitions filed with the Emperor and administrative bureaus were promulgated as a result. This article examines the process of promulgating the Petitions Act by discussing why the act was passed in 1917. in addition, the article discusses the new link that was established between the Emperor and his subjects (or rather, the nation) through the enactment of the petition system through an examination of the conditions before, during and after the enactment of the Constitution. Because the act of petitioning the Emperor was prohibited prior to the Constitution's enactment, focus was placed more on appeals to administrative bureaus at that time. However, in the process of enacting the Constitution and studying European practices, petitioning the Emperor came to be interpreted as being important as petitioning the legislature and administrative bureaus. After the Constitution was enacted, petitioning the Emperor became the subject of a debate between Ito Hirobumi (伊藤博文) and Ito Miyoji (伊東巳代治) within the process of preparing an imperial household system. The argument concerned how petitioning should be understood in terms of the "will of the people": Would it be a means of "procuring the will of the people" or "probing the will of the people?" Furthermore, heated debates arose on how the Emperor and the legislature should be positioned within the framework of the Constitution. For example, what would be the interrelationship between petitioning the two (i.e., expressing the "will of the people") and perceptions concerning the relationship between the monarch and his subjects. The promulgation of the Petitions Act was also interpreted as a measure responding to a changing society and as a law protecting the rights of imperial subjects. Consequently, the Petitions Act, which attempted to systematically lay out the petition process, was a piece of legislation that "probed the will of the people" and, as a matter, was the first law of its kind to do so under the Constitution. Furthermore, the Act represented a new linkage between the Emperor and the nation, through the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, who was put in charge of handling petitions filed with the Emperor.

著者

国分 航士

出版者

公益財団法人史学会

雑誌

史學雜誌 (ISSN:00182478)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.122, no.11, pp.1938-1939, 2013-11-20