Japanese Journal of Political Science - Current Issue

Volume 9 Issue 02

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT

Japanese Journal of Political Science, Volume 9 Issue 02

The Japanese Journal of Political Science is a broadly based journal aiming to cover developments across a wide range of countries and specialisms. Its scope is wide-ranging both in terms of subject matter and method. The journal features articles in all fields of political science, especially where these have a conceptual thrust including political theory, comparative politics, political behavior, political institutions, public policy, and international relations. At the same time, the journal seeks to attract the best comparative articles featuring Japan and East Asia. Each issue contains full length research articles, review articles and book reviews.

Japan's New Agricultural Trade Policy and Electoral Reform: ‘Agricultural Policy in an Offensive Posture [ seme no nosei ]’

Research Articles
HIRONORI SASADA,
Japanese Journal of Political Science, Volume 9 Issue 02 , pp 121-144

Abstract
The Japanese government maintained protectionist agricultural policies for several decades after the end of World War II. However, it recently introduced a new policy that aims at promoting the export of agricultural products to overseas markets. Agricultural export promotion policy is fundamentally different from traditional agricultural trade policies, as it focuses primarily on the promotion of competitiveness of Japanese agriculture rather than protection of inefficient farmers. This paper tries to explain this intriguing development in Japanese agricultural trade policy by focusing on the impacts of the changes in legislators' incentives since the electoral reform of 1994. It argues that the post-reform electoral environment induced the introduction of the agricultural export promotion policy. It is because the reform made certain particularistic policies, such as the protection of the agricultural sector, less attractive to politicians that politicians must now appeal to a broader consituency.

The Timing of Public Spending in Japan and the US

Research Articles
SEIJI FUJII,
Japanese Journal of Political Science, Volume 9 Issue 02 , pp 145-159

Abstract
This paper considers a monthly pattern in government spending. I have found that public spending increases at the end of the fiscal year for both the Japanese central government and the US federal government and that the effects are stronger in recent years than in the past. I then propose two hypotheses that would explain why public spending increases at the end of the fiscal year.

Politics of the Falling Birthrate in Japan

Research Articles
KENJI SUZUKI,
Japanese Journal of Political Science, Volume 9 Issue 02 , pp 161-182

Abstract
This study discusses the pattern of development of child-related policies, particularly in recent years. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lacks interest in public engagement in child-related issues, whereas Komeito, the recent coalition partner of the LDP, has been the driving force of recent developments. The study investigates the historical development of three child-related policies: namely, child allowance, childcare services, and the facilitation of work life balance of employees, and discusses the role of Komeito in the recent coalition government. An analytical model is provided to explain why Komeito was active in the development of child allowance, but not other policies. On the whole, the participation of Komeito in the coalition government seems to give impetus to the development of child-related polices, but the scope of that party's behavior is constrained, due to its position as a minor partner in the coalition government.

Political Parties Matter: Explaining Peaceful and Violent State–Islamist Interactions in Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia and Turkey

Research Articles
GÜL M. KURTOĞLU-ESKİŞAR,
Japanese Journal of Political Science, Volume 9 Issue 02 , pp 183-207

Abstract
What explains the breakout of violence following the repression of moderate Islamist groups in some Muslim countries? Part of the answer can lie in the political organization style of those groups, which can constrain or expand their long-term strategy choices in unpredicted ways. Using examples from Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia, and Turkey, this study suggests that organizing as a political party can initially restrict the means of action otherwise available to a moderate Islamist movement, while the loose framework of a political front reduces its organizational costs and lends remarkable flexibility to attract a wider range of followers. Later, paradoxically, the political party framework can enable limited access of an Islamist group into the political system otherwise completely inaccessible earlier, and help to enhance its power, while political fronts are exposed to attacks from both incumbent regimes and radical Islamists groups alike.

Internationalism and Asianism in Japanese Strategic Thought from Meiji to Heisei

Research Articles
GILBERT ROZMAN,
Japanese Journal of Political Science, Volume 9 Issue 02 , pp 209-232

Abstract
Around 1907, 1987, and 2007 Japan faced a crossroads in defining internationalism and Asianism, determining their relative priorities, and assessing their relevance for national identity. Similarities can be found in the far-reaching changes occurring in Japan's external environment in the three periods and in the importance of setting a new direction for strategic thinking. Misjudgments in the first two periods are reviewed in order to draw lessons for responding to today's challenges. A distorted outlook on internationalism led to rejection of shifts in US thinking welcomed elsewhere in the global community. Now as attention focuses on debates over the Six-Party Talks as a test of internationalization and over the East Asian Community and regionalism as a test of Asianism, it is possible that the riveting impact of the issue, as with the issue 20 years earlier, will remain a symbol that trumps a strategic approach toward Asia at a moment of far-reaching regional reorganization. Shortcomings in dealing with the concepts internationalism and Asianism are connected; at the very time the Japanese struggle with one, they are also at an impasse over the other. The same set of factors may be at work: an absence of agreed principles on which to anchor foreign policy; fragmented strategic thinking that loses sight of interconnections and the big picture; and national identity that excessively separates Japan from global forces that transform politics and society and that narrowly compartmentalize the historical developments that shaped relations with Asian countries without capturing the fundamental regional dynamics.

The Political Discourse of International Order in Modern Japan: 1868–1945

Research Articles
SAKAI TETSUYA,
Japanese Journal of Political Science, Volume 9 Issue 02 , pp 233-249

Abstract
This article discusses what constituted Japan's conception of the world order, by analyzing political discourse of international order in modern Japan. It has been generally assumed that the Japanese vision of international order in the pre-World War II years was dominated by a belief in the supremacy of the sovereign state. Contrary to the conventional supposition, this paper will argue that modern Japan actually abounded in discourses of transnationalism, and that most of them cannot be seen as the product of liberal ideas but rather the result of an unstable image of the sovereign state system. Surveying the historical development of political discourse of sovereignty and colonial administration in modern Japan, the way in which the ambivalence of Japanese transnationalism had affected the theoretical construction of the international order will be elucidated. Keeping in mind that previous studies on the genealogy of international relations have focused exclusively on the paradigmatic debate over the League of Nations, this article will also pay more attentions to the fact that rearrangement of empire had occupied the significant place in building the image of the world order. Based on the historical considerations mentioned above, the conclusion will offer generalized consideration of what constitute Japan's conception of the world order.

Carlos Huneeus, The Pinochet Regime , Boulder, CO and London: Lynne Rienner, 2007, pp. 490 + bibliography, $69.95 hbk, ISBN: 158-826-406-8

Book Reviews
J. Blondel,
Japanese Journal of Political Science, Volume 9 Issue 02 , pp 251-253

Abstract

Matthew Carlson, Money Politics in Japan: New Rules, Old Practices , Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2007, pp. x + 175, appendices, index, $49.95 hbk, ISBN 978-158-826-500-5

Book Reviews
Ray Christensen,
Japanese Journal of Political Science, Volume 9 Issue 02 , pp 253-254

Abstract

Ann Kent, Beyond Compliance: China, International Organization, and Global Security , Stanford University Press, 2007, 360 pp., $65.00 (hbk), ISBN 0-8047-5551-1

Book Reviews
Yuan Zhengqing,
Japanese Journal of Political Science, Volume 9 Issue 02 , pp 255-257

Abstract

Robert J. Lieber, The American Era: Power and Strategy for the 21st Century , with new postscript, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007, 293 pp., $18.99 pbk, ISBN: 978-0-521-69738-5, $30.00 hbk, ISBN: 978-0-521-85737-6

Book Reviews
Timothy J. Lynch,
Japanese Journal of Political Science, Volume 9 Issue 02 , pp 257-258

Abstract