Partners for democracy : crafting the new Japanese state under MacArthur / Ray A. Moore, Donald L. Robinson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Moore, Ray A., 1933-2020.

Contributor:

Robinson, Donald L., 1936-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Japan. Kenpō (1946).

Japan.

Constitutional history--Japan.

Constitutional history.

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

Physical Description:

xiv, 409 p. : ill., ports., 8 p. of plates.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 2002.

Summary:

In 1945, Japan surrendered unconditionally to the United States and its allies, thereby planting the seed from which would spring one of the world's most successful and stable democracies. In an age when democracy is often pursued, yet rarely accomplished, in which failed democracies are foundthroughout Africa, Latin America, and Asia, Japan's transformation from an utterly defeated military power into a thriving constitutional democracy commands attention.It has long been assumed that postwar Japan was largely the making of America, that democracy was simply imposed on a defeated land. Yet a political and legal system cannot long survive, much less thrive, if resisted by the very citizens it exists to serve. The external imposition of a constitutiondoes not automatically translate into a constitutional democracy of the kind Japan has enjoyed for the past half-century. Apparently Japan, though under military occupation, was ready for what the West had to offer. Ray A. Moore and Donald L. Robinson convincingly show that the country's affirmationof democracy was neither cynical nor merely tactical. What made Japan different was that Japan and the United States-represented in Tokyo by the headstrong and deeply conservative General Douglas MacArthur-worked out a genuine partnership, navigating skillfully among die-hard defenders of theemperor, Japanese communists, and America's opinionated erstwhile allies. No dry recounting of policy decisions and diplomatic gestures, Partners for Democracy resounds with the strong personalities and dramatic clashes that paved the way to a hard-won success.Here is the story of how a devastated land came to construct--at times aggressively and rapidly, at times deliberately and only after much debate-a democracy that stands today as the envy of many other nations.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Abbreviations and Japanese Terms

Introduction: "A New Order of Things"

Fall 1945

1 "Negotiated Surrender": American Planning and Occupation

2 "This Fundamental Problem": MacArthur Saves Hirohito

3 "In Good Faith": Japan Considers Constitutional Reform

4 "A Rational Way": Konoe and Matsumoto on Constitutional Reform

Imposing the American Model

5 "Only as a Last Resort": The Americans Take Over

6 "A Liberal and Enlightened Constitution": The SCAP Model

7 "A Very Serious Matter": The Cabinet's Initial Reactions

8 "Do Your Best": The Marathon Meeting

9 "Grave Danger": The Allies Challenge MacArthur

10 "Seize This Opportunity": Reworking the March 6 Draft

11 "No Choice But to Abide": The Privy Council and Bureaucrats Prepare

Transforming a Draft into a Constitution

Preview: The Diet Goes to Work

12 "Along Democratic and Peace-Loving Lines": Yoshida Presents His Draft

13 "Free and Untrammeled Debate": The Emperor's Prerogatives

14 "Fervent Hopes": Pacifism and Human Rights

15 "Complex and Labyrinthine": The Structure of Government

16 "Fresh Trouble": The House Subcommittee Frames Amendments

17 "Fundamental Principles of Democracy": Human Rights and Imperial Property

18 "Sincere and Steady Efforts": Denouement

19 "Last Service to the Fatherland": The House of Peers Addresses Constitutional Revision

20 "A Borrowed Suit": Peers Accept the Inevitable

Sequel

21 "Broaden and Deepen the Debate": Fifty Years without Revison

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 385-391) and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780198034445

019803444X

0-19-530395-4

0-19-803444-X

0-19-028795-0

9786610482269

0-19-517176-4

1-280-48226-5

0-19-983391-5

OCLC:

559861687