Politics in Japan This course introduces several aspects of politics in Japan in the broader, comprehensive sense of the concept “politics.”
Among other themes, the course will deal with history of Japanese domestic politics and foreign relations, formal institutions (the legislature, judiciary, state bureaucracy), parties, internal informal party structures (habatsu, zoku), mass media, public opinion, and processes, such as voting behavior, and domestic and foreign policy making. Special attention will be paid to the post World War II and to state-civil society relations, such as state-market relations (political economy). Where relevant, these themes will be presented in comparative perspective – with Japan in the past and with other states.