Changing Politics in Japan

Ikuo Kabashima, Gill Steel

Description

Changing Politics in Japan is a fresh and insightful account of the profound changes that have shaken up the Japanese political system and transformed it almost beyond recognition in the last couple of decades. Ikuo Kabashima-a former professor who is now Governor of Kumamoto Prefecture-and Gill Steel outline the basic features of politics in postwar Japan in an accessible and engaging manner. They focus on the dynamic relationship between voters and elected or nonelected officials and describe the shifts that have occurred in how voters respond to or control political elites and how officials both respond to, and attempt to influence, voters. The authors return time and again to the theme of changes in representation and accountability.Kabashima and Steel set out to demolish the still prevalent myth that Japanese politics are a stagnant set of entrenched systems and interests that are fundamentally undemocratic. In its place, they reveal a lively and dynamic democracy, in which politicians and parties are increasingly listening to and responding to citizens' needs and interests and the media and other actors play a substantial role in keeping democratic accountability alive and healthy. Kabashima and Steel describe how all the political parties in Japan have adapted the ways in which they attempt to organize and channel votes and argue that contrary to many journalistic stereotypes the government is increasingly acting in the "the interests of citizens"-the median voter's preferences.

Sujets

• USA
• United States of America
• History of Asia
• Japan
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 janvier 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780801458873
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

Changing Politics in Japan

Changing Politics in Japan

Ikuo Kabashima and Gill Steel

Cornell University Press Ithaca and London

Copyright © 2010 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell Univer sity Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2010 by Cornell University Press First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2010 Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Kabashima, Ikuo, 1947–  Changing politics in Japan / Ikuo Kabashima and Gill Steel.  p. cm.  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN 9780801448768 (cloth : alk. paper) —  ISBN 9780801476006 (pbk. : alk. paper)  1. Japan—Politics and government—1989– 2. Political parties— Japan. 3. Political culture—Japan. I. Steel, Gill, 1965– II. Title.  JQ1631.K23 2010  320.952—dc22 2009049506

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Cloth printing Paperback printing

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgments Abbreviations Note on Exchange Rates

Contents

1. Introduction 2. Citizens and Elites in the Construction of the LDP System 3. Party and Voter Dealignment: The LDP System Disintegrates 4. Changing Media, Changing Politics 5. Citizens and the Prime Minister 6. Representation and Policymaking under LDP Administrations in the Post1955 System 7. Voters and the Democratic Party of Japan 8. Afterword: Where to Now?

Appendix A. The National Diet Appendix B. ASSK Survey Questions and Coding Appendix C. The Japan Election Study II References Index

vii ix xi xiii

1 9 28 61 86

105 128 150

155 159 165 167 181

Figures and Tables

Figures 2.1. The Evolution of Parties in Postwar Japan 3.1. The Urban Population Grows 3.2. The Rural Population Shrinks 3.3. Vote Choice in Early Postwar Elections 3.4. Malapportionment in Lower House Elections, 1958–1993 3.5. Party Identification 3.6. Koizumi Seizes the Urban Vote, 2000–2005 4.1. The LDP Promotions Derby 4.2. Newspaper Coverage of the LDP Presidential Candidates, April 2001 4.3. The Television Honeymoons of Koizumi, Mori, and Obuchi 4.4. Koizumi Junichiro 4.5. Newspapers’ Love of Koizumi and His SoundBite Politics 5.1. Koizumi’s Cabinet Support and Television Appearances 5.2. The Floating Vote, 2000–2001 7.1. DPJ Diet Members Become More Conservative, 1998–2003 7.2. Lower House Diet Members’ Ideological SelfPlacements, 1998–2005 7.3. DPJ Diet Members’ Policy Preferences, 1998–2005

12 30 30 32 35 57 58 70

76 79 81 83 90 92 135

135 137

viii

Figures and Tables

7.4. Lower House Diet Members’ Opinions, 2005 7.5. The Two Faces of Ozawa Ichiro 7.6. Lower House Election Results, 1996–2009 7.7. The Lower House Election, 2009

Tables 3.1. LDP Upper House Election Results, 1983–2007 3.2. The Declining Probability of the Median Voter Choosing the LDP Appendix 3.1. Influences on Voting 5.1. Voters’ Party Choice, 2000 and 2001 5.2. The Media and Koizumi’s Support Appendix 5.1. The Variables 6.1. Themes and Concrete Proposals of Prime Ministers Koizumi, Abe, and Fukuda

141 143 144 147

49

52 59 92 102 104

113

Acknowledgments

We have benefited greatly from discussions with many colleagues over the years. We would particularly like to thank David Leheny for giving us invaluable feedback above and beyond the call of duty. Our sincere thanks go to the following people who provided spe cial assistance: Sugawara Taku, who allowed us to use some material on recentHouseofCouncillorselectionsfromanarticlecoauthoredwith Kabashima Ikuo; Gregory Noble, for thoughtful discussions and the refer ences he suggested; Yamamoto Koji; Kanazawa Yuki for research assistance; Robin LeBlanc; Sherry L. Martin; Lee Bong Yeong; Malinda Markham; and Geoff Ng. We would also like to thank Samuel L. Popkin, James T. Hamilton, Susan Shirk, Taniguchi Masaki, and Sean Richey for comments on previous drafts of chapter 4. We are grateful to the 21stcentury COE program, Invention of Policy Systems in Advanced Countries, for finan cial support. Many thanks go to Roger M. Haydon, our editor at Cornell University Press, for brilliant advice. We are grateful also to the anonymous referee and to all of the team at the Press for their excellent work editing our manuscript. Gill particularly thanks John C. Campbell, for advice and support and for being a wonderful mentor. Gill’s colleagues and the administrative staff in the Social Psychology Department at the Graduate School of Humani ties and Sociology, University of Tokyo, are always incredibly supportive. Her warmest thanks also go to John Williams and to her family (yes, it’s the same book).