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Crumbling foundations: Japan's publ...

Duke University.

Crumbling foundations: Japan's public works policies and democracy in the 1990s.

Record Type:	Electronic resources : Monograph/item
Title/Author:	Crumbling foundations: Japan's public works policies and democracy in the 1990s.
Author:	Seaman, Scott Richard.
Description:	632 p.
Notes:	Chair: Margaret A. McKean.
Notes:	Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 65-06, Section: A, page: 2349.
Contained By:	Dissertation Abstracts International65-06A.
Subject:	Political Science, General.
Online resource:	http://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoapp/servlet/advanced?query=3135142
ISBN:	0496823663

Crumbling foundations: Japan's public works policies and democracy in the 1990s.
Seaman, Scott Richard.

Crumbling foundations: Japan's public works policies and democracy in the 1990s. - 632 p.

Chair: Margaret A. McKean.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Duke University, 2003.

Based on interviews with Japanese politicians, bureaucrats, and protesters, analyses of statistical data, and numerous case studies, I conclude that a combination of (1) rent seeking and regulatory capture, and (2) weak protest groups and often apathetic voters has transformed public works policymaking in Japan into a major source of corruption and waste.

ISBN: 0496823663Subjects--Topical Terms:

212408
Political Science, General.

Crumbling foundations: Japan's public works policies and democracy in the 1990s.
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245 1 0 $a Crumbling foundations: Japan's public works policies and democracy in the 1990s.
300 $a 632 p.
500 $a Chair: Margaret A. McKean.
500 $a Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 65-06, Section: A, page: 2349.
502 $a Thesis (Ph.D.)--Duke University, 2003.
520 # $a Based on interviews with Japanese politicians, bureaucrats, and protesters, analyses of statistical data, and numerous case studies, I conclude that a combination of (1) rent seeking and regulatory capture, and (2) weak protest groups and often apathetic voters has transformed public works policymaking in Japan into a major source of corruption and waste.
520 # $a Many industries, most notably construction, and rural communities throughout Japan rely upon public works for their survival. Actors in these industries and communities protect the flow of public money going to them by providing government officials with money and votes (for politicians) and lucrative post-retirement employment (for bureaucrats). This rent-seeking behavior and the regulatory capture that results from it help ensure that large amounts of money will be spent on public works even when this is unpopular with large segments of the population. In the 1990s, this situation was aggravated by the fact that the LDP was controlled during most of this period by powerful members and factions with close ties to industries and rural districts of Japan in which support for public works was strong.
520 # $a The efforts of groups (both outside and inside of government) that were opposed to public works spending or individual projects to compel key government decision-makers to curtail or halt them were hampered by weak oversight mechanisms and opaque planning processes. They were further hamstrung by the work of pro-public works groups to disrupt protests and punish protesters and the failure of many Japanese voters who were dissatisfied with status quo policies to express their preferences more consistently.
520 # $a Throughout the 1990s, the government of Japan spent enormous amounts of money on public works. It did so even though much of this money fed into projects that were ill-matched to actual needs for infrastructure, damaged the environment, fueled a growing government debt crisis, and prompted many groups in Japan to organize protests and vote against the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Why would government officials in an advanced industrialized democracy create and maintain policies and programs that are neither cost-effective as investments of public resources nor popular among much of the electorate?
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