Welfare through Work

Welfare through Work
Author: Mari Miura
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2012-10-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0801465486

High economic growth and relatively equitable distribution were among the most conspicuous characteristics of the postwar Japanese political economy. The lure of the Japanese model, however, has faded since the 1990s. Growth is in short supply and equality a thing of the past. In Welfare through Work, Mari Miura looks in depth at Japan’s social protection system as a factor in the contemporary malaise of the Japanese political economy. The Japanese social protection system should be understood as a system of "welfare through work," Miura suggests, because employment protection has functionally substituted for income maintenance. A gendered dual system in the labor market allowed a high degree of labor market flexibility, which enabled Japan to achieve high employment rates as well as strong legal protections for regular workers. In recent years, conservatives gradually replaced the productivism and cooperatism that had resulted from earlier party politics with neoliberalism, which, in turn, hampered the effectiveness of the welfare through work system. In Miura’s view, the dynamics of partisan competition fostered ideational renewal, just as the political visions and ideologies of the governing party strongly affected the design of the social protection system. In the scenario Miura describes, the partisan dynamics since the 1990s resulted in the policy change that further undermined the social protection system, and the ensuing disruption has been felt throughout Japan.

The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Politics

The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Politics
Author: Robert J. Pekkanen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 1001
Release: 2021-10-25
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0190050993

"Book Abstract and Keywords: The study of Japanese politics has flourished over the past several decades. This Handbook provides a state-of-the-field overview for students and researchers of Japanese. The volume also serves to introduce Japanese politics to readers less familiar with Japan. In addition, the volume has a theme of "evaluating Japan's democracy." Taken as a whole, the volume provides a positive evaluation of the state of Japan's democracy. The volume is divided into two parts, roughly corresponding to domestic Japanese politics and Japan's international politics. Within the domestic politics part, there are four distinct sections: "Domestic Political Actors and Institutions," covering the Japanese Constitution, electoral systems, prime minister, Diet, bureaucracy, judiciary, and local government; "Political Parties and Coalitions," covering the Liberal Democratic Party, coalition government, Kōmeitō, and the political opposition; "Policymaking and the Public," covering the policymaking process, public opinion, civil society, and populism; and, "Political Economy and Social Policy," covering industrial, energy, social welfare, agricultural, monetary, and immigration policies, as well as social inequality. In the international relations part, there are four sections: "International Relations Frameworks," covering grand strategy, international organizations, and international status; "International Political Economy," covering trade, finance, foreign direct investment, the environment, economic regionalism, and the linkage between security and economics; "International Security," covering remilitarization, global and regional security multilateralism, nuclear nonproliferation, naval power, space security, and cybersecurity; and, "Foreign Relations" covering Japan's relations with the United States, China, South Korea, ASEAN, India, the European Union, and Russia. Keywords: international relations, comparative politics, democracy, international order, alliances, space security, elections, Liberal Democratic Party, multilateralism, remilitarization, international organizations, populism, civil society, coalitions, political parties, trade, finance monetary policy, foreign direct investment, cybersecurity"--

Welfare and Capitalism in Postwar Japan

Welfare and Capitalism in Postwar Japan
Author: Margarita Estevez-Abe
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2008-07-21
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1139471929

This book explains how postwar Japan managed to achieve a highly egalitarian form of capitalism despite meager social spending. Estevez-Abe develops an institutional, rational-choice model to solve this puzzle. She shows how Japan's electoral system generated incentives that led political actors to protect various groups that lost out in market competition. She explains how Japan's postwar welfare state relied upon various alternatives to orthodox social spending programs. The initial postwar success of Japan's political economy has given way to periods of crisis and reform. This book follows this story up to the present day. Estevez-Abe shows how the current electoral system renders obsolete the old form of social protection. She argues that institutionally Japan now resembles Britain and predicts that Japan's welfare system will also come to resemble Britain's. Japan thus faces a more market-oriented society and less equality.

One World of Welfare

One World of Welfare
Author: Gregory J. Kasza
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2018-07-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1501726633

One World of Welfare offers a systematic, comparative examination of Japan's welfare policies and a critical assessment of previous research. Gregory J. Kasza rejects the view that the Japanese welfare system is unique; he challenges the nearly universal belief that the postwar Japanese state neglected welfare to promote rapid economic growth; he rejects the claim that there is a regional welfare model in East Asia; and he uses the Japanese case to question the dominant framework for comparative welfare research. The author explores the relevance of both convergence and divergence theories for understanding the Japanese record and spotlights the importance of international influences on the timing and content of Japan's welfare policies. This book offers a fresh comparative template for research on Japanese public policy. Case studies of Japan have often exaggerated its distinctiveness. Comparative research documents points of similarity as well as difference; it unearths the foreign models that have swayed Japan's policymakers; and it reveals what others might learn from Japan's experience. Most of the welfare challenges that Japan has faced over the last century have resembled those confronting other nations, and the Japanese have often patterned their welfare policies after those of Western countries. Japan's welfare system must be understood within a broader pattern of global policy diffusion.

Poverty and Social Welfare in Japan

Poverty and Social Welfare in Japan
Author: Masami Iwata
Publisher: ISBS
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2008
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781876843878

Due to the chorus of admiration that recognizes Japan having become the world's second largest economy in the latter half of the 20th century, the awareness of poverty in Japan has been concealed. This collection of papers by twelve specialists in poverty research unravels the ways in which the poor have been socially excluded in contemporary Japan. The book examines how this reality derives from the structure of inequality in social resources, life chances, and power relations. It scrutinizes the extent to which Japan's social welfare policies have disseminated and consolidated particular types of understanding about poverty. It reveals their contradictions by highlighting the lives of the homeless, new-comer foreign workers, residents in poor housing areas, and many other socially excluded groups.

Aging in Asia

Aging in Asia
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 486
Release: 2012-07-31
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0309254094

The population of Asia is growing both larger and older. Demographically the most important continent on the world, Asia's population, currently estimated to be 4.2 billion, is expected to increase to about 5.9 billion by 2050. Rapid declines in fertility, together with rising life expectancy, are altering the age structure of the population so that in 2050, for the first time in history, there will be roughly as many people in Asia over the age of 65 as under the age of 15. It is against this backdrop that the Division of Behavioral and Social Research at the U.S. National Institute on Aging (NIA) asked the National Research Council (NRC), through the Committee on Population, to undertake a project on advancing behavioral and social research on aging in Asia. Aging in Asia: Findings from New and Emerging Data Initiatives is a peer-reviewed collection of papers from China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Thailand that were presented at two conferences organized in conjunction with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, Indonesian Academy of Sciences, and Science Council of Japan; the first conference was hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, and the second conference was hosted by the Indian National Science Academy in New Delhi. The papers in the volume highlight the contributions from new and emerging data initiatives in the region and cover subject areas such as economic growth, labor markets, and consumption; family roles and responsibilities; and labor markets and consumption.

The Small Welfare State

The Small Welfare State
Author: Jae-jin Yang
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 251
Release: 2020-04-24
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1839104619

In a period of rapid change for welfare states around the world, this insightful book offers a comparative study of three historically small welfare states: the US, Japan, and South Korea. Featuring contributions from international distinguished scholars, this book looks beyond the larger European welfare states to unpack the many common political and institutional characteristics that have constrained welfare state development in industrialized democracies.

Housing and Social Transition in Japan

Housing and Social Transition in Japan
Author: Yosuke Hirayama
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2006-11-24
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1134176295

Bringing together a number of perspectives on the Japanese housing system, Housing and Social Transition in Japan provides a comprehensive, challenging and theoretically developed account of the dynamic role of the housing system during a period of unprecedented social and economic change in one of the most enigmatic social, political, and economic systems of the modern world. While Japan demonstrates many of the characteristics of some western housing and social systems, including mass homeownership and consumption-based lifestyles, extensive economic growth and rapid urban modernization has been achieved in balance with traditional social values and the maintenance of the family system. Helpfully divided into three sections, Housing and Social Transition in Japan: explores the dynamics of the development of the housing system in post-war Japan deals with social issues related to housing in terms of social aging, family relations, gender and inequality addresses the Japanese housing system and social change in relation to comparative and theoretical frameworks. As well as providing challenges and insights for the academic community at large, this book also provides a good introduction to the study of Japan and its housing, economic, social and welfare system generally.

Children of the Japanese State

Children of the Japanese State
Author: Roger Goodman
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2000
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 9780198234210

Over 30,000 Japanese children are in the care of the state. This study describes what happens to them in a country that has no professional social workers and little tradition of adopting or fostering children in need of care.

The Emergence of Welfare Society in Japan

The Emergence of Welfare Society in Japan
Author: Mutsuko Takahashi
Publisher:
Total Pages: 280
Release: 1997
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

This work begins by covering the historical context of welfare policy in Japan since the end of the 19th century but includes social welfare practices as well as the policy and system itself. The focus of the work is on social relevance in analysing the social discourses on the politics of welfare in Japan, taking into account the broad range of social and political factors implicit in making sense of the politics of welfare.