Running for public office in postwar Japan requires the endorsement of a political party and a sophisticated system of organizational support. In this volume, Gerald L. Curtis provides a detailed case study of the campaign of Sato Bunsei, who in 1967 ran for the Lower House of Japan's parliament as a nonincumbent candidate of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Sato's district consisted of a modern urban center and a tradition-bound rural hinterland and featured a dynamic dialectic between old and new patterns of electioneering, which led Sat? to innovate new strategies and techniques.
Since its publication in 1971, sociologists and anthropologists as well as political scientists have considered Curtis's microanalysis of Japan's political system to be a vital historical document, offering insights into Japanese social behavior and political organization that are still relevant. The Japanese edition of Curtis's pioneering study, Daigishi No Tanjo, a best-seller, is valued today as a classic and read and cited by journalists, politicians, and scholars alike. This edition features a new introduction in which the author reflects on the reception of his book and on the changes in Japan's election process since its publication.
A rich, vivid picture of the electoral process.-- "The Journal of Politics"
Curtis gives us an intimate and penetrating glimpse into political life in Japan.-- "The Journal of Asian Studies"
Excellent.-- "Pacific Affairs"
On the evidence of this book, Gerald L. Curtis is a member of that elite corps of academic authors who combine sound methodology, painstaking research and field work, interviewing skill, acute observation and analysis, enlightening and informative comparison, and an engaging literary style.-- "Political Science Quarterly"
One of the most informative books ever written on election campaigning in Japan.-- "The American Political Science Review"
著者について
Gerald L. Curtis is Burgess Professor of Political Science at Columbia University and the former director of the East Asian Institute. He is the author of The Japanese Way of Politics and The Logic of Japanese Politics.
登録情報
出版社
:
Columbia Univ Pr; Illustrated版 (2009/2/1)
A political scientist researched on how a newcomer could get a seat of the Diet in japanese elections. As a field worker, Curtis analysed candidate's organization(so-called Koenkai) and its mobilization in election campaigns. Although this book explains about the former election system which consisted of multi-seat constituencies, it depicts the dynamism of Japan's politics from the level of grass roots. If you read this book, you will face what hasn't been changed in Japan's society and in the mentality of Japanese people even now. This book is one of the most important books to understand Japan's politics.
