Responses to Peter Cave's posting:

>>'The end of July is probably not the best time to ask
a question or start a debate'

It's perfectly fine for Japan politics specialists in the southern hemisphere - we're still grinding away in the middle of winter!

>>'http://www.npr.org/2011/07/27/138617568/in-japan-hol
ding-onto-political-reins-proves-elusive'

In this article Lucy Craft, a freelance reporter in Tokyo for PBS, makes the comment 'The frailty of Japan's leadership reflects the fact that, more than 60 years after World War II, Japan has yet to enjoy a full-fledged democratic political system.'

Does she offer any reasoned argument to support the contention that 'Japan has yet to enjoy a full-fledged
democratic political system'? No.

Does she offer any evidence to support the contention that 'Japan has yet to enjoy a full-fledged democratic
political system'? Not a shred.

Does she make any analytical link in the article between 'the frailty of Japan's leadership' and 'Japan's not yet enjoying a full-fledged democratic political system' beyond the simple equation of 'bad
leadership' = 'undemocratic'? No.

It would seem that this journalistic observation does not meet any test of academic argument. Why then take one's cue from a journalist?

On the other hand, asking the question 'how democratic is Japan?' is perfectly legitimate in academic discourse because it would elicit considered and in-depth arguments about the quality of Japanese democracy. But 'dysfunctional' does not necessarily mean 'undemocratic'. Perhaps the question had more validity under the long-term one-party rule of the LDP than it does now under the DPJ, which might be a mess, but it is certainly not anti-democratic (any more than the current US is). Perhaps the questions should be
posed: 'what's undemocratic about the current DPJ administration?' 'Why would Japanese voters now find this a pertinent question to ask of their political system?' Because they have a leader in office who is patently unpopular with just about everyone? Is that a test of democracy? If democratic procedures were followed to put him in office and democratic procedures are now required to remove him, what is undemocratic about that?

>>'when I search forums like East Asia Forum, or SSJ,
or blogs like that
>>of Tobias Harris, I
find very little analysis'. Presumably you mean 'on this topic'. And perhaps because it is a non-issue.

Aurelia George Mulgan
Professor
UNSW Canberra
Australia