Advice and Consent The Politics of Consultation in Japan [Paperback]

Schwartz explores how political conflicts of interest among economic groups are resolved in Japan.The postwar era has witnessed a pluralizing trend in Japan, but small sets of narrowly-focused interest groups still dominate policymaking. Over 200 small consultative councils (shingikai), composed of business people, bureaucrats, scholars, journalists, union members, and others, deliberate on virtually every aspect of public policy. This book reviews their functions and operations, and presents three case studies of specific governmental decisions involving the use of shingikai in the late 1980s.The postwar era has witnessed a pluralizing trend in Japan, but small sets of narrowly-focused interest groups still dominate policymaking. Over 200 small consultative councils (shingikai), composed of business people, bureaucrats, scholars, journalists, union members, and others, deliberate on virtually every aspect of public policy. This book reviews their functions and operations, and presents three case studies of specific governmental decisions involving the use of shingikai in the late 1980s.The postwar era has witnessed a pluralizing trend in Japan, but small sets of narrowly-focused interest groups still dominate policymaking. Over 200 small consultative councils (shingikai), composed of business people, bureaucrats, scholars, journalists, union members, and others, deliberate on virtually every aspect of public policy. This book reviews their functions and operations, and presents three case studies of specific governmental decisions involving the use of shingikai in the late 1980s.Preface; 1. Interest-group politics in Japan: competing interpretations; 2. The Shingikai system; 3. Shingikai in the spotlight; 4. Amending Japan's labor constitution: revision of the labor standards act; 5. Regulating the invisible giant: the introduction of financial futures markets; 6. The god that fell: reducing the price of rice; 7. Comparisons and conclusions. Advice and Consenl“Ð