... Constitution in 1889. As early as Meiji Restoration, there was a clamor for parliamentary government from the aggrieved and the politically conscious. The discontented included the idle ex-samurai and indebted peasants. The politically-conscious were merchants and educated class. The clamor came to head the 'People's Right Movement' in the 1870s. Consequently, the Meiji Government decided to promulgate a constitution to calm down the unrest. However, this idea of appeasement was opposed to the idea of necessity. Democratic institutions were considered the inevitable course of progress. Strong and advanced countries like Britain, France, and the United States all had a Constitution and this convinced the Meiji leaders that Japan with a constitution would be recognized eventually as an advanced country. It was with this blend of these conflicting ideas that the Constitution was made. The second blend of conflicting ideas was democracy versus oligarchy. On the surface, there were many democratic features like ...

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