Population ratio and Area ratio

2023年12月23日

In Japan, the population is decreasing by 2% every year.

Moreover, the proportion of elderly people is increasing.

Electoral districts will also be reviewed.

The number of politicians in rural areas, where the population is rapidly decreasing, will decrease, and the number of politicians in urban areas will increase accordingly.

To put it simply, the number of politicians in the metropolitan area will increase.

This is natural from the principles of democracy.

But there is another way of thinking.

The area is large.

It is also said to be a depopulated area.

The area of the prefecture per capita is large.

Tokyo’s 23 wards are the opposite, with a high population density.

Setagaya Ward has a population of 920,000 people.

Yamanashi Prefecture ranks 41st among prefectures with 800,000 people.

Wards have a larger population than prefectures.

Looking at it from another perspective, Yamanashi Prefecture manages a large area of land, and the burden of land area per prefectural citizen is high.

Road, water and sewage system maintenance, and forest management.

All of them cost money.

Therefore, tax revenue is lower than in Tokyo.

Does the higher the population density cost more administrative costs, or the lower the population density?

There’s probably a point to both.

What if we decided on both per-capita and per-area constants as the criteria for assigning politicians’ constants?

The number of seats in the House of Representatives is based on the population.

The House of Councilors constant is based on area ratio.

The House of Councilors also has national districts.

There is also an opinion that there should be a quota for politicians by generation.

This is to secure political seats for the younger generation.

There may even be a retirement age for politicians.