http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2009/08/03/the-dpj-will-bring-the-ships-home-and-open-japans-economy-to-the-us/ Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the Pacific Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:23:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2 http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2009/08/03/the-dpj-will-bring-the-ships-home-and-open-japans-economy-to-the-us/comment-page-1/#comment-47957 Aurelia George Mulgan Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:09:07 +0000 http://www.eastasiaforum.org/?p=6150#comment-47957 What we're witnessing at the current moment in Japan is a pretty unprecedented phenomenon: real party competition on policy issues - with the sharpest distinctions evident in areas such as agricultural/agricultural trade policy and security/alliance policy. In other areas such as hand-outs, it's hard to distinguish between the two. Even if Japan doesn't make it to a fully fledged two-party system this time round with 'regime change', some aspects of that system are certainly in evidence. It makes a real change from the pivot of policy debate being 'the party versus government'. And it presents a real challenge for groups just as Keidanren and JA (Japan Agriculture) even more so - which are joined at the hip with the LDP. Are they going to learn how to operate in a real two-party system of alternating governments, or are they going to continue with their strong partisan alignment? The latter may leave them out in the cold - a totally new experience for JA, for example. I expect Keidanren will soon establish a productive modus vivendi with a DPJ government, particularly in view of the latter's support for a Japan-US FTA. What we’re witnessing at the current moment in Japan is a pretty unprecedented phenomenon: real party competition on policy issues – with the sharpest distinctions evident in areas such as agricultural/agricultural trade policy and security/alliance policy. In other areas such as hand-outs, it’s hard to distinguish between the two. Even if Japan doesn’t make it to a fully fledged two-party system this time round with ‘regime change’, some aspects of that system are certainly in evidence. It makes a real change from the pivot of policy debate being ‘the party versus government’. And it presents a real challenge for groups just as Keidanren and JA (Japan Agriculture) even more so – which are joined at the hip with the LDP. Are they going to learn how to operate in a real two-party system of alternating governments, or are they going to continue with their strong partisan alignment? The latter may leave them out in the cold – a totally new experience for JA, for example. I expect Keidanren will soon establish a productive modus vivendi with a DPJ government, particularly in view of the latter’s support for a Japan-US FTA.

]]>