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Dealing with a Self-Made Enemy: The Japanese State's Innovative Responses to Contentious Political Movements Over Time
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Dealing with a Self-Made Enemy:
The Japanese State’s Responses to Contentious Political Movements over Time
Daniel P. Aldrich
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Government, Harvard University
and
Associate, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
Prepared for delivery at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association,
September 2 - September 5, 2004.
Copyright by the American Political Science Association.
Comments and criticisms are welcomed (## email not listed ##).
Abstract
Few public decisions stir more controversy than siting nuclear power plants and other“local public bads.” How democratic governments overcome citizen opposition reveals theflexibility demonstrated by states under pressure along with the evolutionary nature of democracyin industrialized nations. Employing a historical-institutional approach to facility siting in Japan,this paper finds that bureaucracies with clearly defined goals facing sustained public oppositionare more likely to engage in adaptive, flexible responses. Under these conditions, agencies departfrom the use of “core” tools such as policing and coercion which have more guaranteed outcomesbut short term impacts and move toward “peripheral” ones which seek to alter citizen preferencesabout these facilities. States innovate in confrontation with social movements and do not requirelarge crises or shocks to initiate radical policy change. Furthermore, states are not swayed bypublic opinion to the degree imagined by democratic theorists, but often play a significant role inshaping it.
Key words: controversial facility siting, state, contentious politics, policy tools, Japan
This paper is a subsection of my doctoral dissertation, a cross-national, over time investigation of bureaucratic
flexibility under pressure in the field of contentious facility siting. The Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies atHarvard University provided funding for the initial fieldwork and for writing and the A50 Group of the IIE Fulbrightprogram provided funding during extended fieldwork in Japan. I am grateful for the assistance of the staff of theJUSEC Fulbright office in Tokyo, especially Ms. Iwata Mizuho, as well as Yael Aldrich for her support and HowardAldrich, Christian Brunelli, and Hayden Lesbirel for their excellent suggestions.
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| | Authors: Aldrich, Daniel. |
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Dealing with a Self-Made Enemy:
The Japanese State’s Responses to Contentious Political Movements over Time
Daniel P. Aldrich
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Government, Harvard University
and
Associate, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
Prepared for delivery at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association,
September 2 - September 5, 2004.
Copyright by the American Political Science Association.
Comments and criticisms are welcomed (## email not listed ##).
Abstract
Few public decisions stir more controversy than siting nuclear power plants and other
“local public bads.” How democratic governments overcome citizen opposition reveals the
flexibility demonstrated by states under pressure along with the evolutionary nature of democracy
in industrialized nations. Employing a historical-institutional approach to facility siting in Japan,
this paper finds that bureaucracies with clearly defined goals facing sustained public opposition
are more likely to engage in adaptive, flexible responses. Under these conditions, agencies depart
from the use of “core” tools such as policing and coercion which have more guaranteed outcomes
but short term impacts and move toward “peripheral” ones which seek to alter citizen preferences
about these facilities. States innovate in confrontation with social movements and do not require
large crises or shocks to initiate radical policy change. Furthermore, states are not swayed by
public opinion to the degree imagined by democratic theorists, but often play a significant role in
shaping it.
Key words: controversial facility siting, state, contentious politics, policy tools, Japan
This paper is a subsection of my doctoral dissertation, a cross-national, over time investigation of bureaucratic
flexibility under pressure in the field of contentious facility siting. The Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at
Harvard University provided funding for the initial fieldwork and for writing and the A50 Group of the IIE Fulbright
program provided funding during extended fieldwork in Japan. I am grateful for the assistance of the staff of the
JUSEC Fulbright office in Tokyo, especially Ms. Iwata Mizuho, as well as Yael Aldrich for her support and Howard
Aldrich, Christian Brunelli, and Hayden Lesbirel for their excellent suggestions.
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