The author of this study of policymaking in postwar Japan contends that the prevailing perceptions of the subject advanced to date are inadequate. Professor Pempel identifies three distinct patterns of policymaking within Japan's current system of hegemonic pluralism. One of these, "policymaking by camp conflict, "is associated with broad, highly emotional, ideological issues that polarize political forces and that are resolved only after widely publicized battles in the Diet, the media, and the streets. A second pattern, "incremental policymaking, "involves nonideological problems that are settled largely through bureaucratic procedures almost totally removed from public scrutiny. A third pattern, "pressure group policymaking, "pits a limited number of special interest groups against one or more government agencies; this process is less conflictual and public than camp conflict, but more visible and antagonistic than incremental policymaking.

This book deals with the public policy-making process in contemporary Japan testifying a new dictum: 'The various phases of the policy process cause politics'. The analytical focus is threefold: encompassing the policy-making process on the national level; elections and the policy-making process; and the regional policy and decision-making. These analyses offer a number of original and comparative data on Japanese politics. This book also tries to interpret the basic pattern of Japanese politics, which contributes to a clear understanding of the dynamic aspects of the political process and political economy after the Second World War.

Japan’s arrival since World War Two as a major industrial nation has meant that she has had to bear a greater share of the developed world’s contribution to the developing nations and foreign aid has become an integral part of foreign policy. This book describes the roots of Japan’s aid policy and shows that this side of her international economic policy is based largely on domestic conditions, structures and forces. To understand the pattern of Japanese aid as it stands today, it is important to appreciate the complexities of the Japanese decision-making process. This book clearly explains the patterns of Japanese aid policy-making.

Table of contents

A major evolution in Japan's system of governance has been taking place in recent years as politicians have increasingly begun to participate in the policymaking process where bureaucrats used to play the predominant role. The six chapters in this volume are written by members of the Diet from the Liberal Democratic, Democratic, and New Komeito parties. These members of the new generation of politicians in Japan are concerned about designing a new architecture for policymaking.Relations between politicians and bureaucrats and how those relations should be restructured are discussed. Restructuring the policymaking process also involves questions of the relationships between the prime minister and the governing party organizations, the role of Diet committees, and the issue of staff support for politicians, parties, the Diet, and the prime minister. Each chapter explores these and other policymaking matters in the context of a specific policy issue, such as finance, information technology, public works, education, and corporate policy. Chapters provide important insights into the substantive issue at hand and the policy process relating to it.Contributors include Japanese House of Representatives members Nemoto Takumi, Furukawa Motohisa, Ito Tatsuya, Maehara Seiji, Hase Hiroshi, and Ueda Isamu.

With little domestic fanfare and even less attention internationally, Japan has been reinventing itself since the 1990s, dramatically changing its political economy, from one managed by regulations to one with a neoliberal orientation. Rebuilding from the economic misfortunes of its recent past, the country retains a formidable economy and its political system is healthier than at any time in its history. Japan Transformed explores the historical, political, and economic forces that led to the country's recent evolution, and looks at the consequences for Japan's citizens and global neighbors. The book examines Japanese history, illustrating the country's multiple transformations over the centuries, and then focuses on the critical and inexorable advance of economic globalization. It describes how global economic integration and urbanization destabilized Japan's postwar policy coalition, undercut the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's ability to buy votes, and paved the way for new electoral rules that emphasized competing visions of the public good. In contrast to the previous system that pitted candidates from the same party against each other, the new rules tether policymaking to the vast swath of voters in the middle of the political spectrum. Regardless of ruling party, Japan's politics, economics, and foreign policy are on a neoliberal path. Japan Transformed combines broad context and comparative analysis to provide an accurate understanding of Japan's past, present, and future.