Looking for Leadership : The Dilemma of Political Leadership in Japan

Democratic leaders around the world are finding it increasingly difficult to exercise strong leadership and maintain public support. However, there is nowhere that this has proven to be as challenging of a task as Japan, which has seen its top leaders change more often over the past 25 years than any other major country in the world. The current prime minister has strived to put an end to this pattern, but can he buck this historical trend? More fundamentally, why do Japan's prime ministers find it so difficult to project strong leadership, or even stay in office? And what are the ramifications for Japan's partners and for the world? This volume, authored by contributors who straddle the scholarly and policymaking worlds in Japan, explores the obstacles facing Japan as it looks for greater leadership and explains why this matters for the rest of the world. "Democratic leaders around the globe are finding it increasingly difficult to exercise strong leadership and maintain public support. Nowhere has this proven to be as challenging as in Japan, which has seen its prime ministers change more often over the past quarter century than any other major country. Why have they found it so difficult to project strong leadership, or even stay in office? Is this changing? And what does it mean for the rest of the world? In this volume, authors who straddle the scholarly and policymaking worlds explore Japan's quest for leadership and explain what is at stake."