Many who critique democracy as practiced in East Asia suggest
that the Confucian political culture of these nations prevents
democracy from being the robust participatory type, and limits it
to a spectacle designed to create obedience from the public.
Certainly some East Asian nations have had elections for decades,
but for democracy to be meaningful, a country needs an active
public sphere, political tolerance, egalitarian beliefs, and
vigorous political participation. The Asian-values debate focuses
on whether the creation of this optimal version of democracy in
East Asian nations will be hindered by their shared Confucian
cultural heritage and at the centre of this debate is whether there
is an active political culture in East Asia that allows citizens to
freely discuss, debate, and disagree about politics.
With Japan as its focus, this book examines the role of social
networks and political discussion in Japanese political culture and
asks whether discursive participatory democracy is indeed possible
in East Asia. In order to answer this question the authors
undertook the largest academic political survey ever conducted in
Japan to give the book exceptional empirical credence. This data
reveals how the Japanese people interact politically, concluding
that through the powerful influence of social networks on Japanese
political behaviour, Japan has a more globalized and less
hierarchical society where Confucian culture is not dominant and
where creation of a vibrant civil society is possible.
This book will be invaluable for students and scholars of
Japanese politics, democracy, civil society, and globalization.
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