The Politics of Oligarchy

by Ramseyer, J. Mark; Rosenbluth, Frances McCall

• ISBN13: 9780521636490
• ISBN10: 0521636493
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-04-01
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr

Summary

In the latter-half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, Japan underwent two major shifts in political control. In the 1910s, the power of the oligarchy was eclipsed by that of a larger group of professional politicians; in the 1930s, the focus of power shifted again, this time to a set of independent military leaders. In this book, Ramseyer and Rosenbluth examine a key question of modern Japanese politics: why the Meiji oligarchs were unable to design institutions capable of protecting their power. The authors question why the oligarchs chose the political institutions they did, and what the consequences of those choices were for Japan's political competition, economic development, and diplomatic relations. Indeed, they argue, it was the oligarchs' very inability to agree among themselves on how to rule that prompted them to cut the military loose from civilian control - a decision that was to have disastrous consequences not only for Japan but for the rest of the world.

Table of Contents

List of tables and figure	xii	(3)
Series editors' preface	xv	(2)
Acknowledgments	xvii
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION	1	(14)
Background	1	(5)
The puzzle	1	(3)
This project	4	(2)
The argument	6	(8)
The internal logic to oligarchies	6	(3)
Bureaucrats, judges, and the military	9	(2)
Regulatory consequences	11	(3)
The project	14	(1)
CHAPTER 2 THE COLLAPSE OF OLIGARCHY: FAILED ATTEMPTS AT CARTEL-MAINTENANCE	15	(14)
Introduction	15	(1)
The cast of characters	16	(3)
Introduction	16	(2)
The historical context	18	(1)
The oligarchs	18	(1)
The first attempts at institutional design	19	(6)
Resistance to central control	20	(1)
The first institutions	21	(4)
The demise of oligarchy	25	(3)
Conclusion	28	(1)
CHAPTER 3 CONCESSION OR FACADE: THE MEIJI CONSTITUTION	29	(12)
Introduction	29	(1)
The road to the Constitution	30	(3)
The Diet under the Constitution	33	(1)
Rule-making under the Constitution	34	(3)
Explaining power-sharing	37	(2)
Conclusion	39	(2)
CHAPTER 4 ELECTORAL RULES AND PARTY COMPETITION: THE STRUGGLE FOR POLITICAL SURVIVAL	41	(15)
Introduction	41	(1)
The initial rules	42	(4)
The first Elections Act	42	(2)
Multi-member districts and the SNTV	44	(2)
A return to single-member districts	46	(1)
The road to universal suffrage	47	(2)
Back to multi-member districts	49	(2)
The political logic of multi-member districts	51	(2)
Elections under SNTV, MMD rules	53	(1)
Conclusion	54	(2)
CHAPTER 5 THE BUREAUCRACY: WHO RULED WHOM?	56	(18)
Introduction	56	(1)
Politicians and bureaucrats: A principal-agent analysis	57	(3)
Bureaucrats and politicians in pre-war Japan	60	(1)
The bureaucracy: Whose servant?	61	(1)
The empirical record on bureaucratic advancement	62	(11)
Evidence from bureaucratic rosters	63	(7)
Self-reported evidence	70	(3)
Conclusion	73	(1)
CHAPTER 6 THE COURTS: WHO MONITORED WHOM?	74	(16)
Introduction	74	(1)
The institutional structure	75	(1)
The pre-constitutional equilibrium	75	(1)
The constitutional equilibrium	75	(1)
Oligarchic manipulation	76	(6)
Kojima and the oligarchs	76	(2)
Chiya and the oligarchs	78	(1)
Bessho and the oligarchs	78	(1)
Why the oligarchs fired judges	79	(1)
How the oligarchs fired judges	80	(1)
Politicians and judicial independence	81	(1)
Political manipulation	82	(5)
The oligarchic bequest	82	(1)
Pre-Inukai	82	(4)
Inukai	86	(1)
A positive theory of judicial independence	87	(1)
Judges and bureaucrats	88	(1)
Conclusion	89	(1)
CHAPTER 7 THE MILITARY: MASTER OF ITS OWN FATE	90	(13)
Introduction	90	(1)
Early conflicts	91	(1)
The Yamagata reforms	92	(3)
Independent command	92	(1)
Active-duty requirement	93	(1)
Military orders	93	(1)
The result	94	(1)
Aggregate data	95	(1)
The military in politics	95	(6)
Cabinets	95	(1)
The London Naval Treaty	95	(4)
The Manchurian incident	99	(1)
Ugaki Kazushige	99	(1)
Military coordination	100	(1)
The strategic gamble	101	(1)
Conclusion	102	(1)
CHAPTER 8 FINANCIAL POLITICS	103	(15)
Introduction	103	(1)
Early banking regulation	104	(2)
The Banking Act of 1927	106	(4)
The financial panic of 1927	110	(4)
The gold standard as political instrument	114	(3)
Conclusion	117	(1)
CHAPTER 9 RAILROAD POLITICS	118	(17)
Introduction	118	(2)
Meiji railroads	120	(5)
The national railroads	120	(1)
The private railroads	120	(3)
Nationalization	123	(2)
Travel subsidies	125	(4)
Procurement	129	(1)
Taisho-Showa railroads	130	(4)
The national railroads	130	(2)
The private railroads	132	(2)
Conclusion	134	(1)
CHAPTER 10 COTTON POLITICS	135	(25)
Introduction	135	(1)
The industry	136	(3)
Early growth	136	(1)
Economies of scale	137	(2)
The weaving cartels	139	(4)
The shape of the cartels	139	(2)
Money and elections	141	(2)
The spinning cartel	143	(6)
The cartel	143	(2)
Political quiescence among the spinning firms	145	(2)
The 1931 Control Act	147	(2)
The Factory Act	149	(8)
Introduction	149	(1)
The statute as cartel	150	(1)
The statute as intra-industry strategy	151	(2)
The statute as animus	153	(1)
The statute as electoral strategy	153	(4)
Conclusion	157	(3)
CHAPTER 11 CONCLUSION: INSTITUTIONS AND POLITICAL CONTROL	160	(13)
Introduction	160	(1)
The myth of efficient institutions	161	(5)
Where do institutions come from?	162	(3)
When do institutions matter?	165	(1)
Which institutions, when?	166	(1)
The myth of bureaucratic autonomy	166	(6)
Bureaucratic subservience	166	(3)
Judicial subservience	169	(1)
Military independence	170	(1)
Questioning the late-development hypothesis	171	(1)
Conclusion	172	(1)
Notes	173	(28)
References	201	(18)
Index	219