The paper examines the root causes of Japan＇s rapid shift to foreign policy activism. To explain the causes, I develop the so-called ＂perverse political accountability＂ approach. Specifically, the approach claims t...The paper examines the root causes of Japan＇s rapid shift to foreign policy activism. To explain the causes, I develop the so-called ＂perverse political accountability＂ approach. Specifically, the approach claims that a growing security challenge from China and North Korea, and US policy favoring Japan＇s foreign policy activism structure. Japan＇s domestic political condition that the majority of Japanese people become more conservative and nationalistic. Such shift in the Japanese people＇s preference has been both creating and reinforcing a perverse accountability by which the leaders or parties willing to adopt hard-line foreign policies are better off electorally while the leaders or parties remaining soft-line on foreign affairs are worse off. The perverse accountability not only leads to a severe partisan imbalance between the conservative parties and the leftist parties, but also gives the most conservative party, e.g., the Liberal Democratic Party （LDP）, a greater chance of coming to office and of pursuing assertive foreign policy they favor. Thus, the perverse accountability is at the center of current Japan＇s turn to foreign policy activism. This finding contributes to an enhanced understanding for Japan＇s shift to assertive foreign policy.展开更多
Establishing an accountable government is a core issue for modern state governance. To achieve this goal, two fundamental questions need to be solved： （1） Who exercises power？ （2） How should the power be exerci...Establishing an accountable government is a core issue for modern state governance. To achieve this goal, two fundamental questions need to be solved： （1） Who exercises power？ （2） How should the power be exercised？ To the first question, the electoral system offers a relatively good answer; to the second, the budgetary system offers the best answer. Through a historical and comparative analysis, this essay identifies three roads to political accountability： the European road of the nineteenth century, the American road from the founding of the United States to the reform of Progressive Era and the newly emerging Chinese road. This implies that the Western experience does not represent the only route toward political accountability. Compared with Western experience, China＇s state transformation since the 1980s is quite unique. A Chinese road is taking shape despite all the challenges ahead.展开更多
文摘The paper examines the root causes of Japan＇s rapid shift to foreign policy activism. To explain the causes, I develop the so-called ＂perverse political accountability＂ approach. Specifically, the approach claims that a growing security challenge from China and North Korea, and US policy favoring Japan＇s foreign policy activism structure. Japan＇s domestic political condition that the majority of Japanese people become more conservative and nationalistic. Such shift in the Japanese people＇s preference has been both creating and reinforcing a perverse accountability by which the leaders or parties willing to adopt hard-line foreign policies are better off electorally while the leaders or parties remaining soft-line on foreign affairs are worse off. The perverse accountability not only leads to a severe partisan imbalance between the conservative parties and the leftist parties, but also gives the most conservative party, e.g., the Liberal Democratic Party （LDP）, a greater chance of coming to office and of pursuing assertive foreign policy they favor. Thus, the perverse accountability is at the center of current Japan＇s turn to foreign policy activism. This finding contributes to an enhanced understanding for Japan＇s shift to assertive foreign policy.
文摘Establishing an accountable government is a core issue for modern state governance. To achieve this goal, two fundamental questions need to be solved： （1） Who exercises power？ （2） How should the power be exercised？ To the first question, the electoral system offers a relatively good answer; to the second, the budgetary system offers the best answer. Through a historical and comparative analysis, this essay identifies three roads to political accountability： the European road of the nineteenth century, the American road from the founding of the United States to the reform of Progressive Era and the newly emerging Chinese road. This implies that the Western experience does not represent the only route toward political accountability. Compared with Western experience, China＇s state transformation since the 1980s is quite unique. A Chinese road is taking shape despite all the challenges ahead.
