Post-war Roots of Japanese Political Malaise

Name: Post-war Roots of Japanese Political Malaise
Brand: Taylor & Francis

Taylor & Francis

Writings on post-war Japanese politics have tended to take for granted the dominance of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as inevitable, without questioning how this came about. This book analyses the nature of Japanese party politics over the first four decades following the Second World War, assessing how the chief contenders \u2013 the conservative LDP and the socialists JSP (Japan Socialist Party) \u2013 competed in terms of their strengths and weaknesses relative to the other. Throughout, it addresses the questions: How effectively were the parties\u2019 strengths harnessed? How did they alter over time? To what extent was the winning formula challenged? Did the loser have access to strengths with a major potential, and, if so, why did these remain underdeveloped? It extends widely to include discussion of the political system, the social and economic environment in which parties operated, internal party matters, especially factions, personal support groups, special interest gr.