Policy Formulation and Evaluation Reform

<p>  Twenty years after the introduction of the policy evaluation system in 2001, it has achieved certain results, including the penetration and establishment of the policy management method in the administration of Japan, which sets numerical targets and manages progress while monitoring performance. However, it has been pointed out that the policy evaluation system has become a work to prepare evaluation documents, which is separated from the policy-making process, and that it has not been utilized for actual policy-making or improvement. </p><p>  In order to realize a government capable of responding to rapidly changing social and economic conditions and increasingly complex and difficult issues, it is necessary to realize the primary function of policy evaluation, which is to grasp and analyze the effects of policies in a timely manner in the policy-making process, formulate improvement measures based on the results, and reflect them in policies, and transform the administration into a flexible and agile one. Based on this recognition, the government has promoted policy formulation and evaluation reforms since 2021. </p><p>  This paper aims to summarize the history and content of the government’s efforts to reform the “policy formulation and evaluation” in Japan along with the background and awareness of issues.</p>