The Politics of Oligarchy: Institutional Choice in Imperial Japan (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions)

Description:

Buy with confidence! Book is in acceptable condition with wear to the pages, binding, and some marks within. Seller Inventory # bk0521636493xvz189zvxacp

About this title:

• 3.57
  7 ratings by Goodreads

Synopsis: This book examines a key question of modern Japanese politics: why the Meiji oligarchs were unable to design institutions capable of protecting their power. The authors question why the oligarchs chose the political institutions they did, and what the consequences of those choices were for Japan's political competition, economic development, and diplomatic relations. Indeed, they argue, it was the oligarchs' very inability to agree among themselves on how to rule that prompted them to cut the military loose from civilian control--a decision that was to have disastrous consequences not only for Japan but for the rest of the world.

From the Back Cover: In the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth, Japan underwent two major shifts in political control. In the 1910s, the power of the oligarchy was eclipsed by that of a larger group of professional politicians. In the 1930s, the locus of power shifted again, this time to a set of independent military leaders. In The Politics of Oligarchy, J. Mark Ramseyer and Frances M. Rosenbluth examine a key question of modern Japanese politics: Why were the Meiji oligarchs unable to design institutions capable of protecting their power? Using an analytical framework for oligarchic governments not specific to Japan, the authors ask why the oligarchs chose the political institutions they did, and what consequences those choices engendered for Japan's political competition, economic development, and diplomatic relations. Ramseyer and Rosenbluth argue that understanding these shifts in power may clarify the general dynamics of oligarchic government, as well as theoretical aspects of the relationship between institutional structure and regime change.

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Politics of Oligarchy: Institutional ...
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication Date: 1998
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: Fair