AJISS-Commentary
The Association of Japanese Institutes of Strategic Studies
IIPSRIPSInstitute for International

The Japan Institute ofResearch Institute for

Policy Studies

International Affairs

Peace and Security(Secretariat)

Editor:No. 166.

Akio Watanabe

30 November 2012

Editorial Board:

NO CONCEIVABLE ALTERNATIVE TO
DEMOCRACY

Hideki Asari
Masashi Nishihara
Taizo Yakushiji

Online Publisher:
Yoshiji Nogami
President, JIIA

Masayuki Tadokoro
Japan’s postwar democracy has often been termedphony, a charge arising from the long-maintained
single-party rule by the Liberal Democratic Party(LDP) without any transfer of power to another party.
Proponents of this argument assert that theabsence of“regime change” during this period is
attributable to the public’s inability to actually electthe government democratically, and underlying thisclaim is their assertion that Japan’s true rulers are
privileged bureaucrats who steer the nation out ofsight of the Japanese public.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and should
not be attributed to The Association of Japanese Institutes ofStrategic Studies.

AJISS-Commentary
The Association of Japanese Institutes of Strategic Studies

Regardless of how correct this argument might have been, neither ofthese conditions applies any longer to today’s Japan. The LDP’s one-party
dominance ended in 1994, from which time there have been a series of coalition
governments; the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has replaced the LDP as theparty in power since 2008. The prestige of Japan’s bureaucrats has been
diminished by numerous failures and scandals, and declarations on the“brilliance of bureaucrats” no longer hold any weight. Having won elections on aplank of “political leadership,” DPJ administrations have sought to eliminate theinfluence of bureaucrats in policy proposal/management. This change has beenheralded by some people as “the dawn of democracy in Japan,” but thereputation of supposedly more democratic Japanese politics has fallen lower
than ever.
Certainly some of the problems in Japanese democracy stem fromreasons peculiar to Japan. For example, because the country achieved
economic success under severe restrictions imposed on its roles in national
security issues, Japan’s democracy was reduced to apportioning out the fruits ofeconomic growth. As Japanese citizens were not able over the years to gain
experience in choosing their own destinies even while sharing the risks andburdens, it is difficult to deny that they became irresponsible with respect to themodality of the state.
Public disillusionment with democracy is not, however, limited to Japan.
In both the United States and Europe, there is strong discontent over politicians
not undertaking careful deliberation when making important decisions but
instead focusing entirely on power struggles. Public sentiment in the West wasbuoyed by the “Arab Spring,” but it is doubtful that the actual records of the“democratic administrations” that replaced the dictators could be called
encouraging at this early point. On the other hand, China and Russia, whichwere expected to become more respectful of liberal values and international
norms if not fully democratic immediately after the Cold War, remain
authoritarian and are becoming more assertive in pursuit of their narrow nationalinterests rather than working together with democratic countries to manage
global problems such as global warming and the humanitarian disaster in Syria.

http://www.jiia.or.jp/en/commentary2AJISS-Commentary
The Association of Japanese Institutes of Strategic Studies

We first should recognize that democracy and good government are notone and the same thing. Politics is a difficult business, even under democracy.
We must acknowledge that the civil values of the rule of law and respect forhuman rights are not achievable straight away through a structure of strident
expressions of opinion and elections. Furthermore, it is even questionable
whether a democratic state is more rational and efficient than an authoritarianstate.
Nevertheless, for the people of Japan and other countries withestablished democracies, there is no conceivable alternative to democracy.
Given that, it would be preferable that we reaffirm democratic values, faulty
though they may be, and intensify our solidarity on safeguarding those values.
The Japanese do not vociferously lecture other countries on norms, but they arepredisposed to frequently ignoring the fact that Japan’s relations with countries
that are democratic and with those that are not are qualitatively different. To give
just one example, relations between Japan and South Korea can in no way becalled smooth, but these relations differ completely from those between Japanand China as the territorial issues between the two countries have not led to achange in the status quo through force or to state-sanctioned riots over theterritorial issues. Democracy remains “the worst form of government, except for
all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

Dr. Masayuki Tadokoro is a professor at Keio University.

http://www.jiia.or.jp/en/commentary3