Regime Shift: Comparative Dynamics of the Japanese Political Economy

by T. J. Pempel

Overview

The Liberal Democratic Party, which dominated postwar Japan, lost power in the early 1990s. During that same period, Japan's once stellar economy suffered stagnation and collapse. Now a well-known commentator on contemporary Japan traces the political dynamics of the country to determine the reasons for these changes and the extent to which its political and economic systems have been permanently altered.

T. J. Pempel contrasts the political economy of Japan during two decades: the 1960s, when the nation experienced conservative political dominance and high growth, and the early 1990s, when the "bubble economy" collapsed and electoral politics changed. The different dynamics of the two periods indicate a regime shift in which the present political economy deviates profoundly from earlier forms. This shift has involved a transformation in socioeconomic alliances, political and economic institutions, and public policy profile, rendering Japanese politics far less predictable than in the past. Pempel weighs the Japanese case against comparative data from the United States, Great Britain, Sweden, and Italy to show how unusual Japan's political economy had been in the 1960s.

Regime Shift suggests that Japan's present troubles are deeply rooted in the economy's earlier success. It is a much-anticipated work that offers an original framework for understanding the critical changes that have affected political and economic institutions in Japan.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501707353
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	08/25/2017
Series:	Cornell Studies in Political Economy
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	658 KB

About the Author

T. J. Pempel is Jack M. Forcey Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the coeditor of Crisis as Catalyst: Asia's Dynamic Political Economy, also from Cornell, and Japan in Crisis: What Will It Take for Japan to Rise Again?

Table of Contents

Introduction: Long Continuities, Radical Shifts

Part I: REGIMES—DIVERGENT APPROACHES TO POSTWAR STABILITY
1. Patterns of Political Economy: A Range of Regimes
2. Japan in the 1960s: Conservative Politics and Economic Growth
3. From Chaos to Cohesion: Formation of the Conservative Regime

PART II: REGIME SHIFTS—ADJUSTMENT, COLLAPSE, AND RECONSTRUCTION
4. Transition and Breakdown: An Era of Reconfigurations
5. Japan in the 1990s: Fragmented Politics and Economic Turmoil
6. Between Adjustment and Unraveling: Protection and Erosion of the Old Regime

Conclusion: Regimes in a Changing World Economy

Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

"This fine collection goes beyond prevailing economic analyses. The well-argued and documented essays are tightly integrated in a common framework. . . .This first-rate contribution to the study of Asia's political economy in the era of globalization will benefit upper-level undergraduate and graduate students and researchers."—Choice. May 2, 2000.

"This is a 'must' book not only for Japan specialists but also for those interested in contemporary Japanese political economy from a comparative perspective."—Junko Kato, University of Tokyo. Journal of Japanese Studies.

"This book deserves to become a standard in bringing students (in the widest sense of the term) up to a graduate, if not higher, level understanding."—H-Net Reviews

"Pempel's book is a readable volume and each of the contributions is thoughtful, well researched, and has implications for managers who will have to continue to function in a world that is changing rapidly. . . . This volume was not specifically written for business managers, but managers will benefit greatly by reading it."—Dr. John E. Butler, The Nation, 2/1/2001

"T. J. Pempel has given us another of his challenging books. . . . This is an important book, and required reading for students of the Japanese political economy. . . . As one would expect, the book is a rich source of scholarship, in its notes directing students and other interested readers to the best of the relevant research. Its availability in paperback should enable the book to be set as a necessary text for courses on both Japanese and comparative politics. It is strongly recommended."—Alan Rix, University of Queensland. Asian Studies Review, March 2000

"The first half is an ambitious and serious attempt to describe the postwar political settlement and to explain how national specificities led Japan to an unusually egalitarian, low-unemployment society, with harmonious labor relations under right-wing government. The second half of the book also has much of interest to say on why stable regimes successfully readjusted or broke down from the late 1970s onward."—Leslie Hannah, Enterprise and Society. June 2000.

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