Composition and change of Imperial Diet Members

本文是对大日本帝国宪法下帝国国会全体议员的社会构成及其变化的研究。通过调查他们的职业背景，如教育等。研究结果如下：（一）在早期的帝国议会中，半数以上的议员来自经营农业、林业、畜牧业、养蚕业、酿酒业等各种产业的地主。在政党组织方面，战前政党与战后政党在职位等级制度上有着巨大的差异。前者非常简单。3.对战前国会议员与利益集团关系的考察表明，一些来自利益集团的议员担任了利益集团的官员，从这个意义上说，他们是代表自己利益的利益代言人。然而，从1936年前后开始，一种不同类型的发言人开始出现在舞台上，他们不是来自他们所从事的行业，而是曾经或曾经来自律师或记者等职业，扮演着利益集团官员的角色，或者他们在进入国会之前除了利益集团官员之外没有任何其他职业。这也意味着地方官员政治家开始出现。4.地方官员与地方协会的办公室之间有着深厚的关系。他们在当地社区担任各种职务，并作为政治家发挥了积极作用，因为他们在社区中享有很高的声誉。

This is a research on the social composition and change of all members of the House of Representatives in ImperiaI Diet under Great Japanese Imperial Constitution. It was done by investigating their career background such as education, and so forth. Some of the findings are as follows.I.In early Imperial Diet more than half the Dietmen were from landowners who ran various industry, like agriculture, forestry, live stock farming business, sericulture business, and brewing business. Other than these primary industries they invested in bank business especially.2.As for the organization of political party, there was a tremedous difference in terms of job-ranking system between prewar parties and postwar parties. The former was extremely simpIe. on the other hand the latter complicated.It would mean that the political parties after the war should have come to carry out big roles under the change or political system.3.The examination of relations with interest groups of prewar members of the Diet shows that some members coming from interest groups undertook officers of the groups, in this sense they were profit spokesmen representing their own interest. However, a different type of spokesmen began to appear on the stage from around l936 on. They were not from the industry in which they were in by trade, but they had been or were from such occupation as lawyer or journalist playing a role of officer of interest groups, or they had not have any other occupation other than officer of interest groups before entering the Diet. This would also mean that prefessinaI politicians began to emerge.4.There was a deep relation between the Dietmen and the offices of local associations. They engaged in various kind of offices in the local community, and playd an active role as a politician, because they were men of high reputation in the community.