000			02071nam a2200193Ia 4500
008			250103s9999 xx 000 0 und d
020			_a9780801476006 _qpbk
041			_aeng
082			_a320.952 _bKAB
100			_aKabashima, Ikuo
245		0	_aChanging politics in Japan _c/ Ikuo Kabashima and Gill Steel.
260			_b: Cornell University Press _c, [2010] _aIthaca ; London
300			_ax, 166 p. _b: ill. _c; 23 cm.
504			_aBib and Ref
520			_aChanging 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
650			_aPolitical parties--Japan.
700			_aSteel, Gill
942			_cENGLISH
999			_c567591 _d567591