Contextualizing Contemporary Japanese Politics and Japanese Nation-State in the “Caricature” and Reality of Bipolar World Since the 1970s

Abstract

In this section, I am concerned in briefly identifying and examining the dominant features of the Japanese party politics. Party politics is part of the state apparatus and the national politics that is involved in the decision about international cooperation. In a liberal democracy, while the ruling party is generally expected to govern, the loyal opposition is also supposed to make constructive criticisms of the agenda of the ruling party— criticisms that should be viewed as valuable in assisting the party in power to clarify its own policy positions.