I gratefully acknowledge the ongoing support of many individuals and institutions whose assistance made this project possible.

Democracy is on the rise worldwide as we are in the throes of Samuel P. Huntington’s (1991) fourth wave of democracy building. In fact, we may be witnessing a fifth wave as democracy has gained in popularity (Mueller 1999) with efforts to establish democratic regimes in the Middle East, such as in Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, and Libya. With these efforts has come significant theorizing about...

For nearly sixty-five years, the National Personnel Authority (NPA) served as a unique actor in the Japanese system and a logical conduit for examining systemic questions related to public administration in Japan. To understand the history, powers, and roles of the NPA, however, requires first reviewing the structure of the Japanese government as a whole. We thus begin with the structure of the...

The first ministry evaluated is the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC). The following first provides background on MIC before turning to the experiences of James Miller and Yukiko Ellis who both completed their Mansfield fellowships at MIC. Although MIC is involved in highly technical and scientifically complex responsibilities in the two policy areas...

This chapter evaluates the fundamental issue of bureaucratic drift to the Japanese democracy by reviewing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Specifically, this chapter begins by sketching MOFA’s relationship with political principals over the past few decades drawing upon Robert Scalapino’s (1977) edited volume along with George Ehrhardt’s (2009) study applying principal...

This third case study evaluates the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MLIT) by reviewing the Mansfield Fellowships of Anthony Waller and Naveen Rao. As in the case studies in the two preceding chapters, this study begins with a brief history of MLIT, before presenting the experiences of the two Mansfield Fellows. This section finds that due to a merger between ministries with very...

This case study of the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) presents the Mansfield Fellowship experiences of Jim Kariya and Dr. Ken Kobayashi.1. For more information on the ministry, visit MHLW’s website at ~http://www.mhlw.go.jp/english (accessed August 30,...

The final case study considered is the famed Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI). Indeed, its predecessor, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), has been widely recognized as a key powerbroker in building the modern Japanese Economy and was often trumpeted as the most significant player in the Japanese political system (Johnson 1982). Indeed, not including METI in...

This study explores the link between democracy and bureaucracy. As this project opined in the opening lines, better understanding of the link between bureaucracy and democracy is critical in modern times as states transition from dictatorships to democracies. Far too often, the focus of inquiry is on the elected branches of government without recognizing that the responsiveness of government...

1955 system, 1

Franklin Barr Lebo is assistant professor of sustainability and an Asian Studies Program faculty member at Baldwin Wallace University. Growing up in San Francisco, California, and serving as a host brother to scores of foreign exchange students, he developed a keen interest in Asia and Japan, in particular. Franklin went on to graduate summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and Pi...