The Logic of Japanese Politics: Leaders, Institutions, and the Limits of Change

by Gerald Curtis

Overview

Widely recognized both in America and Japan for his insider knowledge and penetrating analyses of Japanese politics, Gerald Curtis is the political analyst best positioned to explore the complexities of the Japanese political scene today. Curtis has personally known most of the key players in Japanese politics for more than thirty years, and he draws on their candid comments to provide invaluable and graphic insights into the world of Japanese politics. By relating the behavior of Japanese political leaders to the institutions within which they must operate, Curtis makes sense out of what others have regarded as enigmatic or illogical. He utilizes his skills as a scholar and his knowledge of the inner workings of the Japanese political system to highlight the commonalities of Japanese and Western political practices while at the same time explaining what sets Japan apart.

Curtis rejects the notion that cultural distinctiveness and consensus are the defining elements of Japan's political decision making, emphasizing instead the competition among and the profound influence of individuals operating within particular institutional contexts on the development of Japan's politics. The discussions featured here—as they survey both the detailed events and the broad structures shaping the mercurial Japanese political scene of the 1990s—draw on extensive conversations with virtually all of the decade's political leaders and focus on the interactions among specific politicians as they struggle for political power.

The Logic of Japanese Politics covers such important political developments as

• the Liberal Democratic Party's egress from power in 1993, after reigning for nearly four decades, and their crushing defeat in the "voters' revolt" of the 1998 upper-house election;

• the formation of the 1993 seven party coalition government led by prime minister Morihiro Hosokawa and its collapse eight months later;

• the historic electoral reform of 1994 which replaced the electoral system operative since the adoption of universal manhood suffrage in 1925; and

• the decline of machine politics and the rise of the mutohaso—the floating, nonparty voter.

Scrutinizing and interpreting a complex and changing political system, this multi-layered chronicle reveals the dynamics of democracy at work—Japanese-style. In the process, The Logic of Japanese Politics not only offers a fascinating picture of Japanese politics and politicians but also provides a framework for understanding Japan's attempts to surmount its present problems, and helps readers gain insight into Japan's future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231108423
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	08/27/1999
Series:	Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Gerald L. Curtis is Burgess Professor of Political Science at Columbia University and the former director of the East Asian Institute. He is the author of The Japanese Way of Politics and Election Campaigning Japanese Style, both published by Columbia University Press.

Table of Contents

Introduction1
1. The Politics of Complacency
2. The End of One-Party Dominance
3. The Rise and Fall of Coalition Government
4. The Politics of Electoral Reform
5. The LDP's Return to Power
6. Japan's Uncertain Political Future

What People are Saying About This

E.J. Dionne Jr.

The Logic of Japanese Politics offers a hugely fascinating tour through contemporary Japanese politics. Gerry Curtis makes the mysterious understandable while shaking up your view of what might have seemed obvious. Specialists will appreciate Curtis's expertise, but anyone who loves politics will be grateful for this insightful look at how power works in Japan.

John Campbell

Curtis explains the twists and turns of Japanese politics in the 1990s with the canny eye of the insider's insider, and brings his political science wisdom to bear on the deeper trends of Japanese politics and society.

— John Campbell, professor of political science, University of Michigan

T.J. Pempel

Few Westerners have a longer or deeper familiarity with the personalities of Japanese party politics than Gerald Curtis. In The Logic of Japanese Politics he provides a masterfully nuanced analysis of the complex interplay between Japanese leaders and institutions during the 1990s. This is an essential book for anyone anxious to follow the political developments of this dynamic decade.

E. J. Dionne Jr.

The Logic of Japanese Politics offers a hugely fascinating tour through contemporary Japanese politics. Gerry Curtis makes the mysterious understandable while shaking up your view of what might have seemed obvious. Specialists will appreciate Curtis's expertise, but anyone who loves politics will be grateful for this insightful look at how power works in Japan.

David Halberstam

No American has done a better job of explaining the seemingly inexplicable world of Japanese politics than Professor Gerry Curtis of Columbia. His latest book, his best, is extremely valuable, concise, thoughtful, and very well written.

Ezra Vogel

In this vivid, scholarly account of the end of one-party dominance and the search for a new political order Curtis provides fascinating accounts of political maneuvering which he places in the perspective of comparative politics.

— Ezra Vogel, director of the Asia Center, Harvard University

Andrew DeWitt

There are no scholars better suited than [Curtis] to show the way, given his more than three decades of research on Japan and his unparalleled access to many of the country's major political figures.

— Andrew DeWitt, Shimonoseki City University, Japan

Robert D. Hormats

Gerald Curtis has produced a brilliantly written, powerfully argued, and profoundly insightful analysis of the complex cultural, institutional, and human factors that shape policy in Japan.... This is a must-read for anyone who seeks to genuinely understand America's largest overseas trading partner and major Pacific ally.

— Robert D. Hormats, vice chairman, Goldman Sachs (International)

Peter Drysdale

Gerald Curtis is the author of an earlier classic, Election Campaigning Japanese Style, on the electioneering process in Japan. He has done it again with this book -- encyclopedic in its coverage of Japanese politics in the 1990s and heuristic in its interpretation of the changes that led to the breakdown of the 1955 system and the emergence of Japan's new politics at the end of the century. It is an indispensable reference for anyone who needs to know how the political system in Japan works today and needs to understand its uncertain future.

— Peter Drysdale, Australia-Japan Research Centre, Australian National University

T. J. Pempel

Few Westerners have a longer or deeper familiarity with the personalities of Japanese party politics than Gerald Curtis. In The Logic of Japanese Politics he provides a masterfully nuanced analysis of the complex interplay between Japanese leaders and institutions during the 1990s. This is an essential book for anyone anxious to follow the political developments of this dynamic decade.

Editorial Reviews

[A] senior statesman in the field.... Curtis does not shun the complexity and uncertainty of post-1993 Japanese politics, but revels in it. He has produced a remarkable book that presents the political history of the 1990s in its full complexity.

Journal of Democracy - Steven K. Vogel

Logic is a fine book, in fact an outstanding one. The jacket blurbs are, for once, right in their enthusiasm...For the Japanese scholar, the detail-oriented reader and anyone who wants an insider's view, written by an outsider, this book has no current peer.

Asia Pacific Business Review - John E. Tropman

insightful, comprehensive and impressive...compelling reading....compulsory reading for anyone serious about understanding Japanese politics.

Asian Studies Review - David Walton

No American has done a better job of explaining the seemingly inexplicable world of Japanese politics than Professor Gerry Curtis of Columbia. His latest book, his best, is extremely valuable, concise, thoughtful, and very well written.

David Halberstam

There are no scholars better suited than [Curtis] to show the way, given his more than three decades of research on Japan and his unparalleled access to many of the country's major political figures.

Andrew DeWitt

Logic is a fine book, in fact an outstanding one. The jacket blurbs are, for once, right in their enthusiasm...For the Japanese scholar, the detail-oriented reader and anyone who wants an insider's view, written by an outsider, this book has no current peer.

John E. Tropman

[A] senior statesman in the field . . . . Curtis does not shun the complexity and uncertainty of post-1993 Japanese politics, but revels in it. He has produced a remarkable book that presents the political history of the 1990s in its full complexity.

Steven K. Vogel

Gerald Curtis has produced a brilliantly written, powerfully argued, and profoundly insightful analysis of the complex cultural, institutional, and human factors that shape policy in Japan. . . . This is a must-read for anyone who seeks to genuinely understand America´s largest overseas trading partner and major Pacific ally.

Robert D. Hormats

The Logic of Japanese Politics offers a hugely fascinating tour through contemporary Japanese politics. Gerry Curtis makes the mysterious understandable while shaking up your view of what might have seemed obvious. Specialists will appreciate Curtis´s expertise, but anyone who loves politics will be grateful for this insightful look at how power works in Japan.

E. J. Dionne Jr.

Few Westerners have a longer or deeper familiarity with the personalities of Japanese party politics than Gerald Curtis. In The Logic of Japanese Politics he provides a masterfully nuanced analysis of the complex interplay between Japanese leaders and institutions during the 1990s. This is an essential book for anyone anxious to follow the political developments of this dynamic decade.

T. J. Pempel

Following the collapse of the 'bubble economy' in the 1990s and the ensuing problems, Curtis gives a valuable analysis of the shifting coalitions and political machinations in Japan up to 1998.

Malcolm Trevor

Gerald Curtis is the author of an earlier classic, Election Campaigning Japanese Style, on the electioneering process in Japan. He has done it again with this book -encyclopedic in its coverage of Japanese politics in the 1990s and heuristic in its interpretation of the changes that led to the breakdown of the 1955 system and the emergence of Japan´s new politics at the end of the century. It is an indispensable reference for anyone who needs to know how the political system in Japan works today and needs to understand its uncertain future.

Peter Drysdale

In this vivid, scholarly account of the end of one-party dominance and the search for a new political order Curtis provides fascinating accounts of political maneuvering which he places in the perspective of comparative politics.

Ezra Vogel

Curtis explains the twists and turns of Japanese politics in the 1990s with the canny eye of the insider´s insider, and brings his political science wisdom to bear on the deeper trends of Japanese politics and society.

John Campbell

Curtis (political science, Columbia U., and former director of the East Asian Institute) uses his personal knowledge of key Japanese political figures to illuminate the complexities of the contemporary Japanese political scene, highlighting the commonalities as well as the distinguishing features of Japanese and Western political practices, and refuting certain conventional assumptions. His discussion details and interprets both the events and the broad structures shaping contemporary Japanese politics. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

[A] senior statesman in the field.... Curtis does not shun the complexity and uncertainty of post-1993 Japanese politics, but revels in it. He has produced a remarkable book that presents the political history of the 1990s in its full complexity.

— Steven K. Vogel, University of California, Berkeley

Journal of Democracy

Logic is a fine book, in fact an outstanding one. The jacket blurbs are, for once, right in their enthusiasm...For the Japanese scholar, the detail-oriented reader and anyone who wants an insider's view, written by an outsider, this book has no current peer.

— John E. Tropman

Asia Pacific Business Review

insightful, comprehensive and impressive...compelling reading....compulsory reading for anyone serious about understanding Japanese politics.

— David Walton

Asian Studies Review