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July 19, 1995

[SSJ: 134] Comments on Shingikai

From: John C Campbell
Posted Date: 1995/07/19

[Moderator's Note: The following is an e-mail exchange on Deliberation Councils ("shingikai") forwarded by Professor John Campbell. Responses are welcomed.]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 1995 07:13:39 -0500 (EST) From: Stephen Frank
To: Michael Gerlach ,

Frank Schwartz's dissertation is indeed helpful in explaining how shingikai work; however, if the purpose of this project is to track elite ideas/etc as they relate to public policy it would seem necessary to also understand the policy implications of bureaucratic factions -- especially since bureaucrats often control the creation, dissolution, and staffing of shingikai. Has there been recent work done on how bureaucratic factions affect public policy or work that tracks changes in bureaucratic leadership (subministerial) with changes in policy outcomes? Best, Stephen Frank
sbf1[atx]acpub.duke.edu

On July 18, 95 Michael Gerlach wrote

>One lead on shingikai: Frank Schwartz,
>Director of the US-Japan program at Harvard, did his dissertation on this topic. I've only read parts of it, but I understand he has plans to turn it into a book.
>
>Michael Gerlach
>UC-Berkeley
>
>On Tue, 18 Jul 1995, John C. Campbell wrote:
>
>>Ron's note about how shingikai work is interesting. I wonder if there is anybody in this group with enough real experience in Washington and Tokyo to be able to compare how the systems work?
>>That is, they are clearly not the same, since the US has such an odd governmental system with superactive Congressmen and puny bureaucracies (outside of the Pentagon). But I think that back-scratching deals among public officials, interest groups, scholars and reporters are not unheard of (c.f. the literature on "policy communities," invented in the US although in some ways it works better in Japan).

Approved by ssjmod at 12:00 AM