Suchergebnisse

Kim Jong Il's health problems make North Korea's clarification of succession urgent. On 16 February, the ruler celebrates his 68th birthday & all eyes will be on his 26 year old youngest son Kim Jong Un, who is presumed to be the designated successor. E. Sanchez

The article examines the landslide victory of the Democratic Party of Japan, which ousted the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party in this year s election. The author studies the background and success of the newly instilled party, and the process and factors; which led to the success in the election, in comparison with how other political parties fared. Also, examined in this article are Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's policies and cabinet, and the challenges both the government and nation now face together. The concluding paragraph recaps the historical nature of the election, a look back at Koizumi's government, the reform process and disillusionment, and an outlook into Japan's new political future. Adapted from the source document.

In April 1998 the Democratic Party of Japan was formed as a liberal alternative to both the ruling Liberal Democrats & the Social Democrats. The DPJ not only managed to stay alive but also developed into an effective challenger of the LDP. Twice the DPJ seemed close to taking power, only to have their chances thwarted by then prime minister Koizumi. Indeed, the first ten years of the DPJ have not been a linear success story. The party has repeatedly been hit by problems & has also largely failed to develop a distinctive programmatic profile. Yet, in the face of ill-conceived political priorities & weak leadership on the part of then prime minister Abe, the DPJ was able to triumph in the 2007 upper house elections -- only to see their reputation severely damaged by DPJ head Ozawa's apparent willingness to enter into a grand coalition with the LDP. While such plans have been shelved for the moment, the DPJ has emerged weakened from the episode. Despite the fact that the Fukuda administration has fallen from public favor in recent months, the DPJ will have a hard time trying to unseat the LDP-led government in the next lower house elections. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

Japan's governing coalition lost its majority in the Upper House elections of July 2007. The senior partner in the coalition, the LDP, registered the second-worst result since the party's founding in 1955. The proximate causes of the clear-cut election defeat of Prime Minister Shinza Abe include a series of scandals affecting the government, the unequal distribution of the fruits of recent economic growth, & the mismatch between the priorities of Prime Minister Abe & those of Japanese voters. In view of the opposition's majority in the Upper House, governing now will become much more difficult for the LDP-led coalition. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

In September 2006, Japan's governing party LDP will elect a new party leader who will also become the nation's new prime minister. Who will follow in the footsteps of Jun'ichiro Koizumi, Japan's third longest serving prime minister in the post-war period, who leaves an ambiguous legacy? This analysis focuses on the leadership selection, the framework which will guide the election process, the prime contenders for the top LDP party post, and the daunting tasks that await the new LDP president and prime minister.

The political reforms of 1994 -- a new electoral system, the introduction of public subsidies for political parties, & more restrictive regulations governing political funds -- have drastically changed the formal framework for political parties' activities in Japan. This article analyses the impact of the political reforms on important informal structures in Japan's political parties. It is shown that intra-party factions within the long-time governing LDP & the personal support organisations of individual members of parliament have undergone some changes but continue to persist in spite of the reforms. The article closes by summing up the lessons which the Japanese case offers for the transformation of informal institutions qua changes in the formal environment. 2 Tables, 63 References. Adapted from the source document.

Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni shrine have led to tensions with Japan's Asian neighbors and to a controversy within Japan. This analysis shows proponents and detractors of such visits and their reasons and arguments for and against such visits. Furthermore, the attitudes within the political parties as well as the population are summarized. The author offers two solutions to the Yasukuni problem and the current discussions.

Vote mobilization qua local and national organizations has played an important role in postwar Japanese elections for both Houses of Parliament. However, while there is an abundant literature on personal support organizations (koenkai) of individual politicians in the Lower House, the role of national organizations for vote mobilization in Upper House elections has so far received only scant attention. The phenomenon of the 'organized vote' in postwar Upper House elections in Japan raises a number of questions. How important has it been in terms of voting behavior? What are the factors underlying organized voting? And how has the electoral clout of national organizations changed over time? This article tries to make a modest contribution to the debate on 'organized voting'. In particular, it addresses the proposition that the ability of national interest groups to mobilize votes has declined significantly. The main empirical point of reference in this article are the 2001 Upper House elections. Adapted from the source document.

A review essay on ten books published between 1997 & 1999 regarding different methodological & conceptual perspectives of Japanese politics. They examine attitudes toward the environment, compare characteristics of the Japanese political systems with those of European countries, or focus on new developments in Japan. Different aspects are presented to facilitate the comprehension & explanation of Japanese politics, & relationships among the state, government, & interest groups in Japan are studied. A comparison of the political-administrative systems in Japan, Germany, & GB precedes an examination of studies regarding the origins, content, & consequences of the 1994 political reforms. 28 References. E. Sanchez

A quarter of the world's nation states and territories are ruled by dictators. Moreover, there are many regimes in which democratic and autocratic elements of rule are mixed in various ways. It thus behooves political scientists to study the trajectories, manifestations and perspectives of non-democratic rule in general and autocratic rule in particular. After a period of stagnation, research on autocracies has in recent years become revitalized. Much of this research has a comparative orientation and a range of global datasets that have become available, which enable the systematic testing of hypotheses. Yet, current research on autocracies goes beyond large-N studies. It is a pluralistic enterprise, characterized by the use of a multitude of theoretical, analytical and methodological approaches, lenses and tools. This special issue attempts to fill some gaps in the newer literature by addressing questions of legitimation and repression (as well as co-optation) in autocracies, by probing into the origins of a number of competitive authoritarian regimes and into pre-electoral dynamics in non-democracies, and by finally asking what happens to dictators once autocratic regimes fall. Adapted from the source document.

The recent demonstrations of military aggression by North Korea are analyzed. Although the risk of major hostilities on the Korean peninsula have not necessarily grown as a whole, the threat exists. The recent events are a manifestation of the difficulties North Korea is experiencing as a result of the planned transition of power from Kim Jong Il to Kim Jong Un. Possible actions by western powers are limited. Adapted from the source document.