In contrast to neoliberalism and authoritarian populism, liberal democracy is currently facing a two-way crisis from efficacy and legitimacy.

  In Chapter 1, I present crises of liberal democracy after World War II. In Chapter 2, I take the theory of mature society as the key and discuss the changes during the “Long Sixties” that contributed to the tipping point of efficiency and legitimacy, plunging liberal democracy into a crisis. In Chapter 3, I reinterpret this change in terms of ‘liberation from individuals’ and ‘the rise of directness.’ In Chapter 4, I discuss the constellation of four concepts: neoliberalism, authoritarian populism, ethics of care, and radical democracy, which derived from ‘liberation from individuals’ and ‘the rise of directness’.

  This discussion aims to clarify the four concepts have in common that counter liberal democracy. At the same time, we also clarify those aspects that stand in mutual opposition. In Chapter 5, I discuss the articulation of ethics of care and radical democracy, that counter neoliberalism and authoritarian populism, with reference to the lack of nursery school vacancies in Japan.

  Through this, while acquiring a renewed understanding of the “Long Sixties” as the source of four counter-concepts to liberal democracy, we explore modifications of the theory of mature society to find a way out of this crisis.

Agonistic democrats often call for the “cultivation of ethos” as a cardinal practice for democratic politics. However, the term remains ambiguous, as it only gestures toward a personal maturation of disposition, resulting in criticisms for lacking explicit political prescriptions. Against this backdrop, this article gives a clearer delineation of ethos and then finds a way to rethink the relation between ethos and democracy. First, by exploring the main advocates of the cultivation of ethos (Connolly, White, and Tully), I reveal that the seemingly subjective and ethical concept has sufficient political implications, which critics so far have failed to notice. Second, I address the different risks latent in the prescriptive orientation that critics of agonistic democracy actually share with the agonists — the moralism and the chicken-and-egg problem. To avoid those risks, I turn to Honig’s discussions on the “public things” and the popular prophecy. Finally, I argue that the notion of ethos can best flourish as an attitude of a non-prescriptive spectator. My proposal is that the ethos should be cultivated as that of a theorist, who detects dissonances in the society instead of giving prescriptions.

Britain after the 2016 referendum has been sharply divided between two tribes, Leavers and Remainers, which is called ‘affective polarization’. What led Britain to such grave crisis? In order to tackle the question, the chapter examines three factors: a rise of a new ‘the left-out’ coalition, a meaning of class non-voting amongst working class people as a passive expression among protest against political elites, and the hypothetical timing of the effects of austerity measures on those passive voters. Firstly, it explores the ‘left-out’ coalition of the leavers across class cleavages that share common values around chauvinistic authoritarianism and adversaries against metropolitan elite politicians. Secondly, it emphasizes the importance of noting the fact that within the ‘left-out’ coalition, a quite a number of working class had not actively cast their protest votes for the alternative parties such as the UKIP. Instead, they chose to abstain. Given the impact of when and how those non-voters resume voting had on the results of the referendum, thirdly, it investigates the hypothesis that the timing of the implementation of austerity measures under the coalition government since 2010 and their effects on people’s life especially in deprived areas might have triggered the feeling of ‘left-out’.

This paper examines the attitudes of the radical right-wing populist parties in Western Europe to the “cultural” issues. Leading research by Norris and Inglehart (Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart. Cultural Backlash: Trump, Brexit, and Authoritarian Populism. Cambridge University Press, 2019) argues that it is caused by materialists’ “cultural backlash” against the mainstreaming of post-materialistic values. If such an understanding is followed, it is reasonable to think that radical right-wing populist parties show appropriate attitudes for “cultural backlash” such as negative attitudes towards same-sex marriage or women’s social participation. However, previous studies have pointed out that some radical right-wing populist parties are not necessarily in this position. Therefore, this paper examines the attitudes of the six radical right-wing populist parties in Western Europe toward their cultural issues using a comparative manifest analysis. The results of the analysis show that these parties show “authoritarian” tendency such as attitudes toward immigrants, but social issues are not particularly reactive compared to other political party types. Although these findings do not necessarily force immediate correction of previous studies, they present a “puzzle” that should be answered to the current framework of discussion.

This study compares the attributes of individuals supporting left-wing and right-wing populist parties. This study claims that a citizen’s occupational class shapes their preference for populist parties by forming their political orientation and ideology. Contrasting to previous research’s unidimensional approach, this study defines an individual’s social class position in terms of horizontal as well as vertical dimensions of class structures. To assess the effects of social class on individual preferences for populist parties, this study analyses the data of the European Social Survey (ESS) Round 7 (2014–2015) from 12 Western European countries, with multi-level logistic regression models. The empirical results reveal that an individual’s class position in the horizontal as well as vertical dimensions influence their preference for both types of populist parties. Additionally, the regression analyses find that, while a high anti-establishment attitude drives a respondent to support both types of populist parties, their degree of Euroscepticism only influences their preference for right-wing populist parties.

This paper tries to discover origins of Japan’s original mature society theory in 1975, and focuses on economist Yasuaki Murakami as its main theorist. While high economic growth was coming to an end globally, the discussion of “Mature Society” by Dennis Gabor and the “Limits of Growth” by the Club of Rome was introduced to Japan. Under these influences, Japan’s original mature society theories started to be developed. In particular, Murakami is characterized by his understanding of mature society, combining common global issues of dealing with an affluent society after industrialization and the Japan’s unique problem of switching from the Western model. Murakami saw the change in Japanese society as the transformation of traditional collectivism due to the rise of individualism, and aimed to establish new public and private rules based on it. Murakami’s theory of industrial society developed such an understanding, and he established a social theory that emphasized the necessity of mixed economies, pluralism, and the independence of the cultural domain. Murakami predicted a conservative return in Japan and developed a unique Japanese culture theory based on the “Ye” society. Murakami’s theoretical work, which tried to comprehensively understand the relationship between politics, economy and culture, still gives us important suggestions.

Research into the Miyazawa administration’s PKO policy has focused on missions that were made to Cambodia. Although it did not materialize, a dispatch to Somalia was also considered by the Japanese government. This paper clarifies how the government, particularly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), approached the task of sending peacekeepers to Somalia.

  First, I highlight the problems that emerged from the joint airlift with WFP. Second, I examine the points raised by government investigators concerning local conditions and international contributions through the dispatch of personnel. Finally, I look at the negotiating process between the MOFA, other relevant ministries, and the Prime Minister’s Office, as well as the impact of the UN secretary general’s visit to Japan. As a result, persuasion of the MOFA brought about the stagnation of coordinating functions and serious confrontation, rather than the formation of consensus. The conclusion I draw is that the various problems Japan faces later were condensed in the dispatch plan itself.

In 1978, the development of the “Guidelines for Defense Cooperation between the U.S. and Japan” formalized secret combined military planning and is considered a momentous event in the history of Japan–US security relations. This thesis argues that in explaining the background of the US side’s formalization request, the US domestic political factor had been overlooked by existing studies. Specifically, while the secret plan between the US and Thailand was criticized by Congress because it was formulated by the US military exceeding its authority, concerns existed over whether a similar plan with Japan might also be criticized. Also, in the process of forming the “Guidelines,” Japan, which received the formalization request from the US, drafted documents that form the basis of the “Guidelines.” Historically speaking, the planning was carried out secretly due to domestic politics in Japan. To realize the formalization of the planning, it was necessary for the Japanese to solve their own problems, i.e., to form a political consensus on the planning in Japan.

Scholars in comparative politics have been disputing over whether globalization weakens difference among parties over economic policy (i.e. partisan politics) or strengthens. This article constructs theoretical framework in order to resolve the dispute. The framework argues that globalization has curvilinear relationship with globalization through size of outsiders in labor class. The hypothesis is that the size of outsiders, which globalization increases, affects policy preference of leftist party. The preference is market-intervening when the size of outsiders is small, it is pro-market when the size is moderate, and it becomes market-intervening again when the size is large. On the other hand, policy preference of rightist party would be constant regardless of the size of outsiders. This article tests the expectation by analyzing a dataset on statutory corporate tax rate in OECD member countries between 1981 and 2016. The result supports the expectation above. It implies that, as globalization develops, partisan politics initially starts strongly to which it then decreases before rising again.

Given the status quo that one of the most important phenomenon in contemporary West European politics nowadays is the mainstreaming of the Populist Radical Right Parties (PRRPs) which were regarded as pariahs, this paper aims to explore the rationale through quantitative and qualitative analysis on how a portion of them have become partners of the coalition government while others have failed or declined. First, this paper attempted to discuss two fundamental analytical frameworks which were frequently used to explain the mainstreaming of “Niche Party,” “Inclusion-Moderation Thesis” and “Strategic Models of Political Party”, but in no time came to the conclusion that neither was feasible when applied to the PRRPs. Subsequently, the paper set up five hypotheses revolving around the formation of coalition government for further validation. According to the empirical results, “the size of PRRPs” and “repressive political environments” were proved relevant. However, notably, as comparative study of the mainstreaming of PRRPs is often difficult to achieve due to the limited amount of samples which confine the type of quantitative methods utilized, this paper has undoubtedly showcased great endeavour and proposed innovative approach in overcoming such constraint.

How can a prime minister use his/her power of appointing ministers under the pressure from party colleagues to resign? This article investigates the prime minister’s strategic use of cabinet reshuffles. Ministerial appointment is a powerful tool which enables a prime minister (1) to adjust the policy position of the government and/or (2) to appease the intra-party opponents. I develop a formal model of cabinet reshuffle, in which a prime minister appoints a new minister after observing the level of public support for him/her. The model shows that the declining public support forces a prime minister to appoint the minister whose policy preference is well-aligned with his/her own. Then I validate this claim empirically using the data of ministerial appointments in Japanese cabinets and surveys among the members of House of Representatives.

While there are various theoretical trends in contemporary democratic theory, such attempts seem to be premised on the significance of ‘liberal democracy’ and then to aim for deepening or radicalization of it. This article reconsiders the place of the concept of liberal democracy in contemporary democratic theory, and tries to examine that the relationship between them is not only the deepening or the radicalization of liberal democracy. It focuses on the plural meanings of the word ‘liberal’ in liberal democracy. That is, this paper states that ‘liberal’ in liberal democracy has at least four meanings, capitalist market, competitive party system, the public-private distinction, and constitutionalism, and argues that there are varieties of attempts in contemporary democratic theory that try to go beyond ‘liberal’ democracy in each meaning.

This paper examines and elaborates on notions and theories of pure procedural justice. Attractiveness of pure procedural justice as a theoretical approach to distributive justice as well as a guideline to institutional designs is explored. After demonstrating its consistent application in the Rawlsian theory of justice, I will show that pure procedural justice provides a unique perspective on patterning effects of institutions and policies. The structure of the paper is as follows. Sections 1 and 2 attempt to offer a clear understanding about different notions of pure procedural justice in Rawls’s theory. The social process view of quasi-pure procedural justice will be identified as an approach that is relevant to application of principles of justice (as opposed to the selection of principles). Section 3 discusses institutional implications of Rawlsian pure procedural justice with the focus on the issue of patterning. I will distinguish different types of patterning to those supported by the approach of pure procedural justice and those denied by it. Section 4 examines a non-Rawlsian model of pure procedural justice as an alternative conception of pure procedural justice. I will present several reasons why the alternative conception should be rejected.

The objective of this article is to reveal the termination process of policy programs. As the society has matured, both central and local governments are required to observe fiscal discipline. Researches focused on policy termination, however, are scarce. Some rare researches on the termination process focus mostly on the cause of impeding or promoting termination, not on its process itself. In this study, qualitative method will be applied to reveal the termination process with the object of examining a democratic way to terminate policy programs. Surveys are undertaken on twenty-two prefectural dam construction programs in five prefectures, which have been terminated. A close observation of the circumstances of how each program has reached termination will clarify the facts of the process, and the author attempts to elucidate the reasons by comparative analysis. The findings show a rich variation of the termination process, related to the termination leader of each program. Moreover, the surveys disprove the common image that conflicts arise when the policy termination is on the political agenda, showing, in fact, that about a half of the cases were terminated in a short term strictly by the government officials.