Laying down the law : the American legal revolutions in Occupied Germany and Japan / R.W. Kostal.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kostal, R. W. (Rande W.), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Law.

History.

Law--American influences.

Germany--Politics and government--1945-1990.

Germany.

Politics and government.

Germany--History--1945-1955.

Japan--Politics and government--1945-1989.

Japan.

Japan--History--Allied occupation, 1945-1952.

Germany--Civilization--American influences.

Civilization.

Japan--Civilization--American influences.

Law--American influences--History--20th century.

Law--Germany--History--20th century.

Law--Japan--History--20th century.

Reconstruction (1939-1951)--Germany.

Reconstruction (1939-1951).

Reconstruction (1939-1951)--Japan.

Civilization--American influences.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

472 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2019.

Summary:

At the close of the Second World War, it became the policy of the United States to cause the permanent demilitarization of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan by their compulsory democratization during a period of military occupation. For American leaders, the indispensable precondition of the democratic political order was the rule of law. This book, then, tells the story of how American agencies designed and implemented the two greatest law reform projects in the history of the world. It is a comparative study of American action and German and Japanese reaction to directed legal and political change. The book explores the capacities and incapacities of mid-20th century Americans in remaking foreign legal and political ideas and institutions. It investigates how and why American agencies helped construct and then, in the first phase of the Cold War, undermine liberal legal revolutions in Germany and Japan.-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: Laying down the law in Occupied Germany and Japan

'The destruction of philosophies': planning the legal reconstruction of Germany and Japan

Occupying the legal other: the subjugation of the German and Japanese legal systems

Captive constitutions: remaking constitutional law in Occupied Germany and Japan

Crafting liberal courts: reconstituting the German and Japanese judiciaries

Clearing the spiritual rubble: reforming criminal justice in Occupied Germany and Japan

Twilight of the gods: the rise and fall of civil liberties in Occupied Germany and Japan

Conclusion: Laying down the law: Americans as legal revolutionaries.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674052413

0674052412

OCLC:

1090005372

Publisher Number:

99981996265