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Japan has too many socio-political peculiarities for lessons to be translatable to other democracies. Especially when it comes to politics, its nearly a one par

Japan has too many socio-political peculiarities for lessons to be translatable to other democracies. Especially when it comes to politics, its nearly a one party state with LDP having governed more than 50% of the time since the founding of the democracy.

karaokeyoga 4y ago
"The LDP has been in power almost continuously since its foundation in 1955—a period called the 1955 System—except between 1993 and 1994, and again from 2009 to 2012. In the 2012 election, it regained control of the government." – Wikipedia
krapp 4y ago
[flagged]
- unity1001 4y ago
  Hard to understand why the parent comment was downvoted. This is precisely the interpretation of the US system in political science: A one party oligarchy with two factions that slightly differ in issues that are non-critical to the oligarchy's interests. They clash wildly on identity issues, but when it comes to feeding the military-industry complex, the stock market and keeping their own taxes low, they are always 'bipartisan'. A recent Princeton study confirmed this: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/princeton-experts-say-us-no-longer-democracy http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/princeton-experts-say-... Actually, the above study is just a confirmation of what was known a long time ago as outlined in one of the most famous and biggest study of the US system and social dynamics: https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/power/class_domination.html https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/power/class_domination.html This famous UCSC study found out that ~30,000 people (including women, children) constitute the American elite class and they are extremely class conscious and exclusive. They hold balls to introduce their children into their own society for coming of age, they intermarry within themselves, they monopolize all positions of power among themselves. The study found out that they monopolize everywhere from governors' seats to senate to corporate boards among themselves.
  - pieix 4y ago
    Likely because it's absurd to state that politics in America are "beholden to white supremacist conservative Christians."
  - auctoritas 4y ago
    Yes the two Parties can agree on a few things, that does not imply "one Party oligarchy". In fact much of the dysfunction in government can be traced to the wildly different positions of the two parties. However if we want to talk Oligarchy we can view the US as being dominated culturally by Liberal (classical sense) values. Open Society, all that stuff. This manifests in politics.
    - zirgs 4y ago
      Those two parties agree on most things that actually matter. They are both right wing capitalist parties. Sure - one of them might talk about LGBT rights or whatever. But when a LGBT person gets in an accident - they will still receive a crippling medical bill. Unlike in "homophobic" countries like Poland, South Korea or Japan.
      - ImHereToVote 4y ago
        The bill will however have a colorful rainbow logo during pride month. What else could a gay person ask for.
    - unity1001 4y ago
      > Yes the two Parties can agree on a few things, that does not imply "one Party oligarchy" Those 'few things' define the oligarchy. As the Princeton study found out. > Open Society, all that stuff. That's a false perception. There's nothing open about the existing American oligarchy. The famous UCSC study referenced in the grandparent comment found out that ~30,000 people (including women, children) constitute the American elite class and they are extremely class conscious and exclusive. They hold balls to introduce their children into their own society for coming of age, they intermarry within themselves, they monopolize all positions of power among themselves. The study found out that they monopolize everywhere from governors' seats to senate to corporate boards. Even the people who are more or less familiar with this think that because there are some 'exceptions' to this in the tech sector due to the existence of startups and also a few upwardly mobile upper middle class personas occasionally marry into that oligarchy, there isn't an oligarchy and the society is 'open' and upwardly mobile. But exceptions don't make a rule. Even the anomaly that is the tech sector is a rule-taker in American economy and politics, not a rule maker. The rules are still made by mostly East Coast 'old money' families and the elite networks that their social groups constitute. Here are the critical findings of the study again: https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/power/class_domination.html https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/power/class_domination.html
- Laaas 4y ago
  While historically true, the current Japanese government isn't very Buddhist, and hasn't been AFAICT since the Tokugawa shogunate crumbled (in fact, they persecuted Buddhism after that). The neo-imperialist conservative part isn't too far off from the truth though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nippon_Kaigi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nippon_Kaigi I disagree that they are somehow similar though, trivially evident by the fact that the Republicans aren't the only party. It's also important to note that even though LDP is one party, there are many factions within it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factions_in_the_Liberal_Democratic_Party_(Japan) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factions_in_the_Liberal_Democr... The factions can have quite different opinions.
  - orangepurple 4y ago
    What does it matter when all parties vote approximately in the same direction together on several thousand page long bills that are dropped on them by armies of ghostwriters funded and influenced by who knows?
- looseyesterday 4y ago
  Wow so many assumptions to disentangle here. Seems like someone reads too much reddit and the like. If said corp. and military interests really controlled America, things would look completely different. I agree they exert a some influence on narrow areas, but control is too strong a word. World is too chaotic for any one entity to exert any degree of control on anything.
  - bombolo 4y ago
    He means they control congress, not individual citizens.
- trollerator23 4y ago
  God this is such a dumb comment
  - dang 4y ago
    Please don't respond to a bad comment by breaking the site guidelines yourself. That only makes everything worse. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
mattnewton 4y ago
I’d also argue that Japan’s culture and the much lower immigration rate are huge confounds when trying to extrapolate to the US specifically.
- looseyesterday 4y ago
  I agree, they emphasise social cohesion alot more, things start falling apart without growth in the US pretty fast.

karaokeyoga 4y ago

"The LDP has been in power almost continuously since its foundation in 1955—a period called the 1955 System—except between 1993 and 1994, and again from 2009 to 2012. In the 2012 election, it regained control of the government." – Wikipedia

krapp 4y ago

[flagged]

unity1001 4y ago
Hard to understand why the parent comment was downvoted. This is precisely the interpretation of the US system in political science: A one party oligarchy with two factions that slightly differ in issues that are non-critical to the oligarchy's interests. They clash wildly on identity issues, but when it comes to feeding the military-industry complex, the stock market and keeping their own taxes low, they are always 'bipartisan'. A recent Princeton study confirmed this: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/princeton-experts-say-us-no-longer-democracy http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/princeton-experts-say-... Actually, the above study is just a confirmation of what was known a long time ago as outlined in one of the most famous and biggest study of the US system and social dynamics: https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/power/class_domination.html https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/power/class_domination.html This famous UCSC study found out that ~30,000 people (including women, children) constitute the American elite class and they are extremely class conscious and exclusive. They hold balls to introduce their children into their own society for coming of age, they intermarry within themselves, they monopolize all positions of power among themselves. The study found out that they monopolize everywhere from governors' seats to senate to corporate boards among themselves.
- pieix 4y ago
  Likely because it's absurd to state that politics in America are "beholden to white supremacist conservative Christians."
- auctoritas 4y ago
  Yes the two Parties can agree on a few things, that does not imply "one Party oligarchy". In fact much of the dysfunction in government can be traced to the wildly different positions of the two parties. However if we want to talk Oligarchy we can view the US as being dominated culturally by Liberal (classical sense) values. Open Society, all that stuff. This manifests in politics.
  - zirgs 4y ago
    Those two parties agree on most things that actually matter. They are both right wing capitalist parties. Sure - one of them might talk about LGBT rights or whatever. But when a LGBT person gets in an accident - they will still receive a crippling medical bill. Unlike in "homophobic" countries like Poland, South Korea or Japan.
    - ImHereToVote 4y ago
      The bill will however have a colorful rainbow logo during pride month. What else could a gay person ask for.
  - unity1001 4y ago
    > Yes the two Parties can agree on a few things, that does not imply "one Party oligarchy" Those 'few things' define the oligarchy. As the Princeton study found out. > Open Society, all that stuff. That's a false perception. There's nothing open about the existing American oligarchy. The famous UCSC study referenced in the grandparent comment found out that ~30,000 people (including women, children) constitute the American elite class and they are extremely class conscious and exclusive. They hold balls to introduce their children into their own society for coming of age, they intermarry within themselves, they monopolize all positions of power among themselves. The study found out that they monopolize everywhere from governors' seats to senate to corporate boards. Even the people who are more or less familiar with this think that because there are some 'exceptions' to this in the tech sector due to the existence of startups and also a few upwardly mobile upper middle class personas occasionally marry into that oligarchy, there isn't an oligarchy and the society is 'open' and upwardly mobile. But exceptions don't make a rule. Even the anomaly that is the tech sector is a rule-taker in American economy and politics, not a rule maker. The rules are still made by mostly East Coast 'old money' families and the elite networks that their social groups constitute. Here are the critical findings of the study again: https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/power/class_domination.html https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/power/class_domination.html
Laaas 4y ago
While historically true, the current Japanese government isn't very Buddhist, and hasn't been AFAICT since the Tokugawa shogunate crumbled (in fact, they persecuted Buddhism after that). The neo-imperialist conservative part isn't too far off from the truth though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nippon_Kaigi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nippon_Kaigi I disagree that they are somehow similar though, trivially evident by the fact that the Republicans aren't the only party. It's also important to note that even though LDP is one party, there are many factions within it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factions_in_the_Liberal_Democratic_Party_(Japan) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factions_in_the_Liberal_Democr... The factions can have quite different opinions.
- orangepurple 4y ago
  What does it matter when all parties vote approximately in the same direction together on several thousand page long bills that are dropped on them by armies of ghostwriters funded and influenced by who knows?
looseyesterday 4y ago
Wow so many assumptions to disentangle here. Seems like someone reads too much reddit and the like. If said corp. and military interests really controlled America, things would look completely different. I agree they exert a some influence on narrow areas, but control is too strong a word. World is too chaotic for any one entity to exert any degree of control on anything.
- bombolo 4y ago
  He means they control congress, not individual citizens.
trollerator23 4y ago
God this is such a dumb comment
- dang 4y ago
  Please don't respond to a bad comment by breaking the site guidelines yourself. That only makes everything worse. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

mattnewton 4y ago

I’d also argue that Japan’s culture and the much lower immigration rate are huge confounds when trying to extrapolate to the US specifically.

looseyesterday 4y ago
I agree, they emphasise social cohesion alot more, things start falling apart without growth in the US pretty fast.