Jan 19 April 13 (No Class on March 2) Evaluation is based on class participation (30%), midterm and final exams (30% and 40% respectively).

Transcription

1 Political Economy of Japan KCJS Spring 2015 Ikuo Kume (Waseda University) This course is designed to introduce students to contemporary Japanese Political Economy. We will discuss several important issues of Japanese political economy,such as the government role in economic growth, political participation, party politics, in a comparative framework and try to understand them theoretically. The course is taught one day/week in a three-hour session, which consists of the debate/presentation part and the lecture part. We are going to have a debate on the issue related to the lecture given previous week. Students are expected to participate in the debate in addition to the class discussion actively. Jan 19 April 13 (No Class on March 2) Evaluation is based on class participation (30%), midterm and final exams (30% and 40% respectively). Week 1: How to Make Sense of Japan Part 1: Please present one observation of Japan which impresses you as uniquely Japanese, and try to explain that phenomena culturally, rationally, institutionally, or whatever. Students are expected to make a brief presentation on this topic. * Reed, Stephen, Making Common Sense of Japan (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1993), chapters 1 and 2. Part 2: Politics and Market Lecture *Joseph Stiglitz, Economics of the Public Sector, chapters 3-5. cf. N.G.Mankiw, Principles of Economics

2 THEORETICAL AND HISTORICAL UNDERSTANDING Week 2: Politics and Market Part 1: DEBATE: Culture or Rationality? How to make sense of Japan * Rosenbluth & Thies, Japan Transformed, Chapter 2. Part 2: Government Success and Failure Lecture *A.Glazer and L.S.Rothenberg, Why Government Succeeds and Why It Fails, (Harvard UP, 2001)Introduction. Week 3: Political Development Part 1: Modern Nation Building Part 2: Democracy in Japan * Rosenbluth & Thies, Japan Transformed, Chapter 3. * Ivan Morris,ed., Masao Maruyama, Thoughts and Behavior in Modern Japan, chapters 2&3. POLITICAL SYSTEM Week 4: Political Participation Part 1: DEBATE: Can the government promote economic growth? * Chalmers Johnson, MITI and Japanese Economic Miracle, Chapter 1. Part 2: Voter turnout in Japan has been almost continuously declined over time. How can we explain this decline? What s wrong? * Ferejohn and Fiorina, The paradox of not voting APSR vol.68. *Gary Cox, et.al., Mobilization, Social Networks, and Turnout: Evidence from Japan, World Politics 50, April cf. Robert W. Jackman and Ross A. Miller, Voter Turnout in the Industrial Democracies during the 1980s, Comparative Political Studies.1995; 27: cf. Rafael López Pintor, Maria Gratschew and Kate Sullivan Voter Turnout Rates from a Comparative Perspective Week 5: Election System and Japanese Politics Part 1: PRESENTATION: Why do rural voters turn out more often in Japan? Part 2: Election Systems in Japan: Old and New

3 * Rosenbluth & Thies, Japan Transformed, Chapters 4 &6. * Gerald Curtis, The Politics of Electoral Reform, in Curtis, The Logic of Japanese Politics (Columbia UP, 1999). Week 6: Political Leadership Part 1: PRESENTATION: Withering Radical Parties in Japan? or Mid-Term Exam * Masaru, Kohno Chapter 3. Why Didn t the Japanese Socialists Moderate Their Policies Much Earlier to Become a Viable Alternative to the LDP? In Bernard Grofman, Political Science as Puzzle Solving. Michigan University Press, pp Part 2: Weak leadership in Japan? *Juan Linz, The Perils of Presidentialism, Journal of Democracy, Volume 1, Number 1, Winter cf. Shugart and Carey, Presidents and Assemblies, chapter 1. Week 7: Bureaucracy and Politicians Part 1: DEBATE: Leadership in Japan, Change or Continuity? *Ellis Krauss and Benjamin Nyblade, Presidentialization in Japan? The Prime Minister Media and Elections in Japan, British Journal of Political Science, Volume 35, Issue 02, Apr 2005, pp Part 2: Are politicians able to control bureaucracies? *Ramseyer and Rosenbluth, Japan s Political Marketplace, chapters 6&7. *Abberback, Krauss, Muramatsu, and Rockman, Comparing Japanese and American Administrative Elites, British Journal of Political Science, 20. *Maurice Wright, Who governs Japan, Political Studies, Week 8: Civil Society Part 1: DEBATE: Political appointee and bureaucracy? Do we need more political appointees?

4 * Francis Fukuyama, Trust: The Social Virtues and The Creation of Prosperity, part 3.or Social Capital and the Global Economy Foreign Affairs * Matt Ridley, The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves, (Harper 2010). Chapter 1. Week 9: Democratization and Economic Growth Part 1: DEBATE: Trust in Japan: Reality or Myth? * Toshio Yamagishi, Trust and Social Intelligence in Japan, in Schwartz and Pharr, ed., The State of Civil Society in Japan. *Acemoglu & Robinson, Why Nations Fail (Crown Business 2013), Chapter 3. *C. Boix, Democracy and Redistribution (Cambridge UP, 2003), chap.1. *Ansell & Samuels, Inequality and Democratization (Cambridge UP, 2014), TBA. POLICIES AND PRACTICES Week 10: Economic Crisis Japan and the World Part 1: DEBATE: Is China following the Japanese path? Part 2: LECTURE Why was Japan so slow in responding to the post-bubble economic recession? Is it cultural or what? *Krugman, chapters 3, 9 and 10 in The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of *Svensson, Kamikawa, and Mabuchi, Managing the Bank-System Crisis in Coordinated Market Economies: Institutions and Blame Avoidance Strategies in Sweden and Japan, Governance, Jan Week 11: Japanese Welfare State and its future Part 1: DEBATE: Should Japan liberalize the financial market further? Or should we regulate the financial sector? * Rajan and Zingales, Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists. Chapters 1

5 and 2. *Rosenbluth & Thies, Japan Transformed, chapters 5 & 7. * Fumio Ohtake, Inequality in Japan Asian Economic Policy Review, 2008, 3-1. *R. Dore, Asian Crisis and the Future of Japanese Model, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Week 12: Conclusion or Speculation Part 1: DISCUSSION: Is Japan Changing? *The Myth of Japan s Failure, New York Times. January 6, Part 2: Final Exam