Lesson learned from the public management of Japan’s super-aged society: Looking through 3 paradigms in public administration

Abstract

On account of the fact that Japan is considered one of the “super-aged societies,” Japan’s management of its large aging population therefore draws many countries’ interest. In this paper, the author poses the research question “Is Japanese public management for the super-aged society compatible with the 3 paradigms (OPM, NPM, and NPS) in public administration and how?”. The first is the OPM (old public management) paradigm, reflected in Japan’s Universal Healthcare (UC) from 1961 and the passage of the Welfare Act of Elder in 1963. At this time there was a clear emphasis on “rowing” or having the public sector deliver public services directly. Beginning in 2000, however, a NPM (new public management) paradigm emerges with the implementation of Long-term care insurance (LTCI), in which the central government “steering” by decentralizing its power in favor of local government, which in turn outsourced most of its services to the private sector and non-profit organizations (NPO). Japan’s newest phase of management illuminates yet another paradigm –new public service (NPS), which asks public officials to “serving” by facilitating citizen participation in forming and implementing policy through its Community Based Integrated Care System (CBICS) in order to bring a sense of community back to the community.