The Supreme Court of Japan: Its adjudication on electoral systems and economic freedoms

Though provided with the authority to strike down any official act, the Supreme Court of Japan has been widely regarded as reluctant to use that very substantial power. The author describes some institutional and doctrinal factors that might explain the Court's seemingly passivist stance, concluding that the Court has understood its main task to be the preservation of "pluralist democracy," and that its decisions have been reasonably effective in realizing this goal.