Failed democractization in prewar Japan : breakdown of a hybrid regime / Harukata Takenaka.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Takenaka, Harukata, 1971- author.

Series:

Studies of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asi

The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy--Japan--History--20th century.

Democracy.

Japan--Politics and government--1912-1945.

Japan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (256 p.)

Place of Publication:

Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Failed Democratization in Prewar Japan presents a compelling case study on change in political regimes through its exploration of Japan's transition to democracy. Within a broad-ranging examination of Japan's "semi-democratic" political system from 1918 to 1932, when political parties tended to dominate the government, the book analyzes in detail why this system collapsed in 1932 and discusses the implications of the failure. By reference to comparable cases—prewar Argentina, prewar Germany, postwar Brazil, and 1980's Thailand—Harukata Takenaka reveals that the factors responsible for the breakdown of the Taisho democracy in Japan replicated those that precipitated the collapse of democracy in Europe, Latin America, and elsewhere in Asia. While most literature on these transitions focuses on successful cases, Takenaka explores democratic failure to answer questions about how and why political parties and their leaders can behave in ways that undermine the democratic institutions that serve as the basis for their formal authority.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Figures and Tables

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1. Analytical Foundations

Chapter 2. Defining the Regimes of Prewar Japan

Chapter 3. Political Institutions under the Meiji Constitution

Chapter 4. The Semi-Democratic Regime, 1918–1926

Chapter 5. The Semi-Democratic Regime, 1926–1929

Chapter 6. The Semi-Democratic Regime, 1929–1932

Conclusion

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780804790741

0804790744

OCLC:

923709129