The Policy-Making Process in Contemporary Japan [Hardcover]

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.List of Tables - List of Figures - Preface - Foreword to the English Edition - Conventions - Introduction - PART 1: POLICY DECISIONS JAPANESE-STYLE - The Political Process of Welfare Policy Formation: The 1985 Public Pensions System Reform - Fundamental Patterns in Japanese Politics - PART 2: THE ELECTORAL AND POLICY-MAKING PROCESSES - Elections and Policy-Making - PART 3: LOCAL POLITICS AND POLICY DECISIONS - Public Decision Making and the Expression and Mediation of Regional Interests - Technocracy and Political Friction in the Big City: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Relocation Decision-Making Process - Notes - IndexMINORU NAKANO