Politics of Nagasaki
Politics of Nagasaki, as in all prefectures of Japan, takes place in the framework of local autonomy that is guaranteed by the Constitution and laid out in the Local Autonomy Law. The administration is headed by a governor directly elected by the people every four years in first-past-the-post elections. Legislation, the budget and the approval of personnel appointments, including the vice governor, are handled by the prefectural assembly that is directly elected by the people every four years by single-non transferable vote. With a population of less than 1.5 million in four counties and a total of 21 municipalities, Nagasaki is one of the smaller prefectures. Its fiscal strength index (zaiseiryoku shisū) was 0.30 in fiscal 2009 (rank 42 nationwide), it can cover less than a third of its calculated expenses with its own prefectural taxes. National representation Nagasaki's delegation to the national Diet currently consists of four directly elected Representatives and two Councillors, electing one every three years. For the House of Representatives, the prefecture forms part of the Kyūshū proportional representation block. As of August 2013, Nagasaki's directly elected members of the Diet are (not including Diet members who are from Nagasaki but were elected by proportional representation)