1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910811251503321

Autore

Takenaka Harukata <1971->

Titolo

Failed democractization in prewar Japan : breakdown of a hybrid regime / / Harukata Takenaka

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Stanford, California : , : Stanford University Press, , 2014

©2014

ISBN

0-8047-9074-4

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (256 p.)

Collana

The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center

Disciplina

320.952/09043

Soggetti

Democracy - Japan - History - 20th century

Japan Politics and government 1912-1945

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Figures and Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Chapter 1. Analytical Foundations -- Chapter 2. Defining the Regimes of Prewar Japan -- Chapter 3. Political Institutions under the Meiji Constitution -- Chapter 4. The Semi-Democratic Regime, 1918–1926 -- Chapter 5. The Semi-Democratic Regime, 1926–1929 -- Chapter 6. The Semi-Democratic Regime, 1929–1932 -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Failed Democratization in Prewar Japan presents a compelling case study on change in political regimes through its exploration of Japan's transition to democracy. Within a broad-ranging examination of Japan's "semi-democratic" political system from 1918 to 1932, when political parties tended to dominate the government, the book analyzes in detail why this system collapsed in 1932 and discusses the implications of the failure. By reference to comparable cases—prewar Argentina, prewar Germany, postwar Brazil, and 1980's Thailand—Harukata Takenaka reveals that the factors responsible for the breakdown of the Taisho democracy in Japan replicated those that precipitated the collapse of democracy in Europe, Latin America, and elsewhere in Asia. While most literature on these transitions focuses on successful cases, Takenaka explores democratic failure to answer questions about how and why political parties and their leaders can behave in ways that undermine the democratic institutions that serve as the basis for their



formal authority.