Japan Decides 2014

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xx

   PDF

2. Introduction

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. Introduction: Take a Second Look at the 2014 Election, It’s Worth It

      • Robert J. Pekkanen, Steven R. Reed, Ethan Scheiner

      Pages 3-8

   3. Japanese Politics Between the 2012 and 2014 Elections

      • Robert J. Pekkanen, Steven R. Reed, Daniel M. Smith

      Pages 9-21

   4. The 2014 Japanese Election Results: The Opposition Cooperates but Fails to Inspire

      • Ethan Scheiner, Daniel M. Smith, Michael F. Thies

      Pages 22-38

3. Political Parties

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 39-39

      PDF

   2. The LDP: Return to Dominance? Or a Golden Age Built on Sand?

      • Masahisa Endo, Robert J. Pekkanen

      Pages 41-54

   3. The Democratic Party of Japan: Surviving to Fight Another Day

      • Fumi Ikeda, Steven R. Reed

      Pages 55-61

   4. From Third Force to Third Party: Duverger’s Revenge?

      • Robert J. Pekkanen, Steven R. Reed

      Pages 62-71

   5. Komeito — Rock “n” Row the Coalition Boat

      • Axel Klein

      Pages 72-86

4. Campaigning, Candidates, Districts

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 87-87

      PDF

   2. The Abe Cabinet and Public Opinion: How Abe Won Re-election by Narrowing Public Debate

      • Yukio Maeda

      Pages 89-102

   3. Did Abe’s Coattails Help the LDP Win?

      • Kenneth Mori McElwain

      Pages 103-117

   4. Candidates in the 2014 Election: Better Coordination and Higher Candidate Quality

      • Daniel M. Smith

      Pages 118-133

   5. Women and the 2014 Lower House Election

      • Alisa Gaunder

      Pages 134-143

   6. Netizens Decide 2014? A Look at Party Campaigning Online

      • Joshua A. Williams, Douglas M. Miller

      Pages 144-152

5. Governance and Policy

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 153-153

      PDF

   2. Abenomics in the 2014 Election: Showing the Money (Supply) and Little Else

      • Gregory W. Noble

      Pages 155-169

   3. The Kantei vs the LDP: Agricultural Reform, the Organized Vote, and the 2014 Election

      • Patricia L. Maclachlan, Kay Shimizu

      Pages 170-182

   4. Regional Inequality in 2014: Urgent Issue, Tepid Election

      • Ken V. L. Hijino

      Pages 183-198

Collecting original and high-quality analysis by top scholars from Japan, the United States, Australia, and Europe, this volume analyzes the results of the 2014 election, examining each of the major political parties, central policy issues, campaign practices, and considers how the results were used as a mandate for massive policy reform.

• Comparative Politics
• Japanese Politics
• Electoral Systems
• Shinzo Abe
• party strategies
• gender issues
• policy
• campaign
• Campaigning
• comparative politics
• election
• elections
• Electoral
• Electoral System
• foreign policy
• gender
• governance
• nationalism
• Policy
• Political Parties

'The authors of this comprehensive analysis of the 2014 general election in Japan have produced one of the most important studies of Japanese electoral politics to appear in many years. It is essential reading for anyone - student, scholar and policy maker - interested not only in the 2014 election, but in Japan's political democracy and its future.' Gerald Curtis, Burgess Professor of Political Science, Columbia University, USA

'Japan Decides 2014 reveals how Prime Minister Abe caught the opposition flat-footed by calling an early election and succeeded in using his third-straight win at the polls to claim a mandate for policy changes that weren't even emphasized in the campaign. Anyone trying to understand where Japan is headed under Abe needs to read this book.' Leonard J. Schoppa, Associate Dean for the Social Sciences and Professor of Politics, University of Virginia, USA

'The 2014 election as Abe's 'masterful strategic stroke' ever heard such words about Japanese politics? This book's 21 concise, well written chapters dissect the causes and effects of the remarkable election from all angles. They add up to the best overview I know of Japanese politics today.' John Creighton Campbell, Project Researcher, Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo University, Japan, and Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Michigan, USA

• Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, USA

  Robert J. Pekkanen

• Chuo University, Japan

  Steven R. Reed

• Department of Political Science, University of California, Davis, USA

  Ethan Scheiner

Masahisa Endo, Lecturer at Faculty of Humanities and Economics, Kochi University, Japan Alisa Gaunder, Professor of Political Science, Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas Ken Victor Leonard Hijino, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Law, Kyoto University, Japan Llewelyn Hughes, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University (ANU) Fumi Ikeda, Chuo University, Japan Koji Kagotani, Lecturer, Faculty of Economics, Osaka University of Economics, Japan Saori N. Katada, Associate Professor, School of International Relations and the Director of the Political Science and International Relations (POIR) Program, University of Southern California, USA Jeff Kingston, Director of Asian Studies, Temple University, Japan Axel Klein, Professor of Modern East Asian Studies, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany Ellis S. Krauss, Emeritus Professor, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California San Diego, USA Patricia L. Maclachlan, Associate Professor of Government and Asian Studies, University of Texas, USA Yukio Maeda, Associate Professor, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, University of Tokyo, Japan Douglas M. Miller, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, USA Kenneth Mori McElwain, Associate Professor, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, Japan Gregory Noble, Professor of Politics and Public Administration, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, Japan Robert J. Pekkanen, Professor, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, and Adjunct Professor of Political Science and Sociology, University of Washington, USA Steven R. Reed, Professor of Modern Government, Chuo University, Japan Ethan Scheiner, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of California, Davis, USA Kay Shimizu, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University, USA Daniel M. Smith, Assistant Professor, Department of Government, Harvard University, USA Michael F. Thies, Associate Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Interdepartmental Programs for Global Studies and International & Area Studies, and past Director of the Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, UCLA, USA Scott Wilbur, Political Science and International Relations Program, University of Southern California, USA Joshua A. Williams, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, USA

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