Prof. Dr. Werner Pascha has prepared a Country Report on Japan for the project "Sustainable Governance Indicators 2009" of the Bertelsmann Foundation. The SGI project covers all OECD member countries. Based on sound data and methods backed by dependable quality-assurance measures, the SGI is valid for application far beyond those of existing indices. While the SGI reflect the need for reform in the dimensions "quality of democracy" and "economic and policy-specific performance," they judge a government's capacity for reform mainly by its executive capacity and the level of public participation in its processes. Each of these dimensions is based on a wealth of individual pieces of information, which are freely accessible via the SGI website, www.sgi-network.org. Prof. Pascha´s report can be found here: www.sgi-network.org/pdf/SGI09_Japan_Pascha.pdf
