Failed Democratization in Prewar Japan: Breakdown of a Hybrid Regime (Studies of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center)

__Failed Democratization in Prewar Japan__ presents a compelling case study on change in political regimes through its exploration of Japan's transition to democracy. Within a broad-ranging examination of Japan's "semi-democratic" political system from 1918 to 1932, when political parties tended to dominate the government, the book analyzes in detail why this system collapsed in 1932 and discusses the implications of the failure. By reference to comparable cases―prewar Argentina, prewar Germany, postwar Brazil, and 1980s Thailand―Harukata Takenaka reveals that the factors responsible for the breakdown of the Taisho democracy in Japan replicated those that precipitated the collapse of democracy in Europe, Latin America, and elsewhere in Asia. While most literature on these transitions focuses on successful cases, Takenaka explores democratic failure to answer questions about how and why political parties and their leaders can behave in ways that undermine the democratic institutions that serve as the basis for their formal authority. Failed Democratization in Prewar Japan presents a compelling case study on change in political regimes through its exploration of Japan's transition to democracy. Within a broad-ranging examination of Japan's "semi-democratic" political system from 1918 to 1932, when political parties tended to dominate the government, the book analyzes in detail why this system collapsed in 1932 and discusses the implications of the failure. By reference to comparable cases--prewar Argentina, prewar Germany, postwar Brazil, and 1980s Thailand--Harukata Takenaka reveals that the factors responsible for the breakdown of the Taisho democracy in Japan replicated those that precipitated the collapse of democracy in Europe, Latin America, and elsewhere in Asia. While most literature on these transitions focuses on successful cases, Takenaka explores democratic failure to answer questions about how and why political parties and their leaders can behave in ways that undermine the democratic institutions that serve as the basis for their formal authority.-- Publisher description Failed Democratization in Prewar Japan presents a compelling case study on change in political regimes through its exploration of Japan's transition to democracy. Within a broad-ranging examination of Japan's "semi-democratic" political system from 1918 to 1932, when political parties tended to dominate the government, the book analyzes in detail why this system collapsed in 1932 and discusses the implications of the failure. By reference to comparable cases--prewar Argentina, prewar Germany, postwar Brazil, and 1980s Thailand--Harukata Takenaka reveals that the factors responsible for the breakdown of the Taisho democracy in Japan replicated those that precipitated the collapse of democracy in Europe, Latin America, and elsewhere in Asia. While most literature on these transitions focuses on successful cases, Takenaka explores democratic failure to answer questions about how and why political parties and their leaders can behave in ways that undermine the democratic institutions that serve as the basis for their formal authority.--Amazon.com Contents Figures and Tables Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: Analytical Foundations Chapter 2: Defining the Regimes of Prewar Japan Chapter 3: Political Institutions under the Meiji Constitution Chapter 4: The Semi-Democratic Regime, 1918–1926: Containment of the Military Chapter 5: The Semi-Democratic Regime, 1926–1929: The Rise of the Military and the Decline of Party Government Chapter 6: The Semi-Democratic Regime, 1929–1932: Crisis and Breakdown Conclusion Notes Selected Bibliography Index Analytical Foundations -- Defining The Regimes Of Prewar Japan -- Political Institutions Under The Meiji Constitution -- The Semi-democratic Regime, 1918-1926 : Containment Of The Military -- The Semi-democratic Regime, 1926-1929 : The Rise Of The Military Challenge And The Weakening Of The Regime -- The Semi-democratic Regime, 1929-1932 : Crisis And Collapse. Harukata Takenaka. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. How and why does a semi-democratic regime - one that developed as a result of significant degree of democratisation - collapse without experiencing further democratisation? This book answers these questions through a case study of the collapse of the semi-democratic regime in pre-war Japan. It explains the collapse of this regime as a result of shift in the balance of power between the party government and the military