Het zwakke parlement, LDP, ambtenaren en kiezers

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Het zwakke parlement, LDP, ambtenaren en kiezers

• Who Governs?

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Introduction

• How could LDP maintain power since 55?
• Tradition?
• Who holds power actually?
• Pyramid (Karel Van Wolferen)
• Iron triangle
• Bureaucrats (Chalmers Johnson)
• Which role for the prime minister?

Van Wolferen With Koizumi at the Theatre
http//joiwiki.ito.com/joiwiki/index.cgi?karel_van
_wolferen_with_koizumi_at_the_theatre
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LDP dragon with many heads

• LDP conventional political party?
• Explaining LDP power
• 1. Factions
• 2. Goodwill by bureaucrats
• 3. Zoku
• 4. Election system
• 5. Iron triangle

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1. Factions ??

• Origin at creation of LDP
• Election system favors faction structure of
  party funds and competition
• Necessary for reaching important party functions
• Importance of money ???
• ?? votes and money for protection

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Factions ?? 2

• At origin informal groups for cultural reasons
• Now rational organizations structured like party
  and balancing positions
• 4 main functions in party by members of different
  factions
• Tanaka tried to challenge this unwritten rule but
  failed
• 1993 factions abolished but recreated
• Koizumi challenges factions but strengthens own

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Evolution of the Tanaka faction
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2. Servants of the people? ??

• Prewar privileged status
• Servants of the emperor
• Todai
• Postwar status
• Provide experience for political parties close
  links LDP-bureaucrats (loyalty)
• Engineers of miracle
• MITI
• AG
• Amakudari
• No democratic accountability

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Difficulties ahead for Ishihara
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Tarnished image in the 1990s

• First critique due to pollution
• Tanaka controls bureaucrats
• Niigata gets shinkansen
• Slow and inadequate reaction after Kobe
  earthquake
• HIV-scandal
• 10-2001 high level bureaucrat convicted
• Existed special culture in the ministries above
  the law, corruption seemed aquired right

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Administrative Reform

• APL 1994
• Hashimoto reduce ministries and bureaucrats
• Finance
• Post
• Labor
• Defense
• New structure in 1-2001

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Structure of the administration

• Head of ministry ?????????
• 1.150 m bureaucrats
• 3 levels of exams 1. 800 recruited and become
  members of highest administrative level
• ¼ of LDP mp is former bureaucrat
• 53 is average age for retirement amakudari ???
• ??? (sectionalism) Agriculture and MITI conflict
  over liberalization of rice

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3. ? member of parliament and lobbyer opposed to
reform

• Become kind of bureaucrats in party
• Tanaka was maybe first
• Three kinds
• Own interests
• Post
• Agriculture
• construction
• Ideology
• Defence
• education
• Idealistic
• Cooperation between opposition and LDP

Zoku in Education policy http//www.people.virgin
ia.edu/ljs2k/zoku.txt
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Only opposition to bureaucracy?
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4. The election system power to the farmers

• Every citizen can vote from 20
• Districts decided before industrialization
• Inequality of votes against art 14 Const.
• Chiba 380.000
• Ehime 75.000
• Court did not nullify elections
• New election system wanted badly in major cities
  but against interest of LDP

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Election campaignno limits

• Very strict laws
• Informally much more personal visits, attending
  ceremonies, offering money,
• Dependency on money barrier for reform and open
  politics

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The new election system 1994

• 300 single-seat constituencies
• 180 proportional seats (11 districts)
• Purpose
• only larger parties,
• coalitions,
• no longer money politics,
• more women,
• equity between villages and cities
• Effects clear in 11-2003
• Komeito
• Still inequality votes 2.41 (Kanagawa
  Tottori) higher house 51 (TokyoTottori)

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5. Iron Triangle

• LDP
• Bureaucrats
• Presidents of large companies
• dependency
• Mutual background

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Summary

• Dependency between powerful groups
• Lack of pluralism cause of power structure
• New Japan possible thanks to a new election system

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Lectuur volgende week (2-12-2009)

• Hoofdstuk 7 en 8
• Voorbereiden mondelinge presentatie van 5 minuten
  met drie suggesties voor het nieuwe plan.