Influence of Japan's Political Culture on its Economic Development - Report Example

Influence of Japans Political Culture on her Economic Development Introduction Japan is the third largest economy in the world today after the US and China. Whenever Japan is mentioned, many people are reminded about the roles she played in the Second World War. For some people, it stops at that, but for many others, questions are raised about what makes her the economic giant that she is today. This assignment seeks to trace Japan’s decisions, indecisions and start-stops that all lead to her current economic state. It also looks to highlight how Japan’s political culture has shifted over the happened and how they went a long way in influencing economic development in the country. As it turns out, Japan’s journey to economic prosperity did not start after the Second World War, as many people would believe. The war only destroyed a Japan that was already a top-performing economy in the world; a second best economy after the `1 states of America. The paper will look at the shifts in political culture both long before the devastating World War II and long after it. Among the issues discussed in relation to political culture and shifts thereof include the Meiji political culture, gender politics, MITI, political economy, Education and militarism/wars. Discussion Meiji Political Culture Meiji government was founded after the overthrowing of Tokugawa shogunate. This Meiji era was a period in which Japan was changing from being a feudal state to the modern form. There changes in political culture, social structure, foreign relation and the economy. The founding of the Meiji government marked the beginning of western influence and western commerce in Japan. Meiji period brought several influences to the growth of Japan’s economy, one of them being the end of the feudal system. There was a realization that Japan would be best placed to grow if the country got more open to international trade and better relations with the western societies. With an end to the feudal system, the people of Japan were better able to rise through the societal ranks than was the case in the feudal system (Beasley, 1999). They now could invent and sell their own wares, and, most importantly, were able to get an education. Practical technological education spurred acted as a springboard for growth in the industrial sector. Another important development was the implementation of the largely western capitalism ideology into technological and military development. As a consequence, Japan grew much stronger militarily and economically by the start of the 20th century. The Modern Perspective The economic shape of Japan, as it is today since the post-war period, is largely a product of the political culture of the Japanese people. Japan is one of the countries whose people are deeply interested in the functioning of the political system. Their attitudes towards politics and the role they play in the political system have gone a long way in determining the economic destiny. The citizens have distinct orientations towards the three levels of politics, namely, the political system, policy-making processes and the policy outcomes. The development of Japan’s political system is largely attributable to a supportive public, and that helped to from strong foundation based on articulate ideologies (Ryna, 2000). The sound political ideologies streamlined the political system which created an environment in which sound policies could be formulated. Thanks to the pro-people political system, Japan has had in place institutions that have taken care of the economy. The post-war Japan has witnessed remarkable decline of clientelism and class politics, and that has paved way to a population which largely fiscally conservative and socially liberal. This is a shift in political culture. In Japan today, there are people whose attitude towards national and local election have changed, and would rather not vote in those election. Such people would have more enthusiasm for referendums and even be part of the movements that call for it. Other things they would rather be concerned about include environmental protection and public information disclosure. This is an illustrations of how the political culture has changed, allowing people to take more direct initiatives on things that interest them and those that affect them, including the need to be empowered economically. These changes in the political culture led to economic changes such as shift from an agricultural economy to a manufacturing economy, then later on from manufacturing industries to high tech information industries. As a result, there were notable changes in individual income (Jansen, 2000). New Political Culture The New Political Culture (NPC) of Japan is characterized by certain distinct ideologies. Hoshu Kakushin compares to the left-right ideologies in the western societies. Hoshu Kakushin ideology helped to lay a firm foundation for development of both the politics and economy of Japan (Ryna, 2000). They have a long history, and have evolved to adapt to the numerous transformations that Japan has been going through, such change from a military to a democratic state. Hoshu and Kakushin are antagonistic in nature, a factor which greatly influences the policies, economic or political, formulated and implemented in Japan. Hoshu of the present times favors small governments, economic development and market economy. Kakushin, on the other hand, stands for a bloated government, participation and equality. The proponents of Hoshu outweigh those of Kakushin. The administrations of the post-war Japan have been guided by the ideals of Hoshu, which lean more towards economic development. Elements of Kakushin such as equality and participation have also been adopted, resulting in an empowered citizenry. Education Education in Japan started during the Meiji period. Education, alongside other factors such familial influence and the media, is an agent of political socialization which determines the political culture of Japan. Since the first education system to ever have been established in Japan, the education factor has helped to create a sense of nationalistic pride. Children are taught national values and principals from a very young age, such as the need to stay as a united Japanese people. The aim of the new education system was to achieve modernization (Ryna, 2000). Japan’s technologically advanced economy was a result of high literacy rates, arguably the highest in the world at the time, and high educational standards. There was also an effective and disciplined workforce, a product of the education system which highly encouraged discipline. Foreign languages were also studied in Japan to make trade with the Western countries much simple. Language barrier had earlier on made it difficult to penetrate certain European and third world country markets in Africa. Militarism, Expansionism and Wars A country’s military is a very important aspect of its political culture. Japan as a country devoted a lot of resources to military strengthening. Japan economic history is not complete without the mention of the country’s military and her role in the world wars. For the majority of the prewar period, Japan used her military to achieve expansionism interests. Expansionism was a major factor for economic development of the prewar Japan since she forcefully acquired resources from the neighbors she invaded. Unlike the Second World War which proved rather devastating to both the economy and politics of Japan, the First World War was a recipe for growth. The Japanese industries grew rapidly in the period immediately after World War I because Japan became one of the key suppliers to the European nations that had been devastated by the war. Even the Great Depression of the late 1920s and early 1930 did affect Japan (Totman, 1981). This continued rise of Japan’s economy gave them a reason for bolstering her military, a factor which influenced the role Japan played in the Second World War. The Second World War proved to be the opposite of the first one in terms of how the economy was affected. Japan was at the thick of the Second World War, helping the axis powers against the wish of the USA and the Soviet Union. By the end of the war in 1945 when Japan surrendered, her economy was a total wreck. The war left the country battered, with her production and infrastructure capacity decimated ad Tokyo, the capital city, left in ruins. Her military was disintegrated and nearly all her economic gains of the prewar period were reversed. Japan, being the ambitious and militarily combative nation it had been known to be for years, needed to test her military strength at the highest possible level (Imak, 1986). It proved counterproductive for both her military and economy instead. It invited the wrath of the USA, whereas the Soviet Union took it as an opportunity to revenge against Japan for her activities during the Russo-Japanese war. Japan’s military engagement in WW2 crippled her economy, and didn’t bring the global military and economic supremacy that she, like many other countries which participated in the war, was pursuing. The Second World War gave rise to a renewed commitment to the ideals of nationalism. The founding administration of Japan in the aftermath of the war emphasized the need to be a united Japan in which the citizen’s supported the government’s efforts to reconstruct the damaged economy. The spirit of nationalism bore national unity under a popular government and a new constitution. The post-war Japan was, and strangely so, one of the peaceful nations in the world, and diverted all her energies to rebuilding the economy, rather than militarization and expansionism as had been the case for the majority of the period before the war. Gender Politics In the traditional Japan from the Edo period, through to Meiji, then prewar era, women had very limited space in politics and other aspects of the Japanese culture. During these periods, the society made reference to Confucianism, which focused more on familial and societal values. Women only played subordinate roles in the society. It was even worse during Tokugawa Shonugate when women were said not to exist legally. Their access to education was limited, and they were never allowed to vote. The postwar constitution guaranteed gender parity. The Confucian family values shifted to a great extent. Gender equality came along with a lot of economic benefits. Education of the female gender ensured that they too could be part of the labor force. There was a residual reduction in dependency ratio from what it was in the era when women could only be housewives. Young and married women have increasingly got a place in the hitherto male-dominated labor force. This, among other economic factors, has inevitably led to the increase in per capita income and disposable income. The emancipation of the female gender, therefore, has had an immense contribution to the development and growth of the economy of Japan. The population of working women in the 21st century Japan has surpassed that of the United States (Karan & Gilbreath, 2005). The MITI Factor After the end of the Second World War, Japan was occupied by the US as reconstruction was carried out. The US did this as a way of keeping soviets union’s influence in the region in check. The main aim of rebuilding was to restore Japan’s prewar industrial capacity. During US’s occupation between 1945 and 1952, there is so much that happened. There was democracy and a new constitution. The majority of Japan post-war politics of in the post-war was dominated by one party, LDP. The reconstruction of the economy was happening at such a high rate that by the mid-1950s, the production levels had matched what it was before the war (Hiroshi & Hitoshi, 1981, p.123). The new Ministry of International Trade and Industry had everything to do with the achievements. There was support by the United States totaling to about $2 billion going to food, industrial materials and transportation equipment. Much of the reconstruction was supported by the Japanese government and overseen by MITI. The reconstruction investments majorly concentrated on electricity, coal, chemicals and steel. There was a total change in the mindset, from military-dominated governance to democratic ideals. This was a highlight in the shift of political culture. The expansion interests and the forceful acquisition of external territories was no longer a possibility in the post-war period; it was fashionable anymore, and Japan had internal reconstruction to do and be concerned with instead of tormenting her neighbors who had by then become independent. Her military rebuilding was restricted as per the surrender terms. With democracy and sound institutions like MITI in place, it took a very short time after the war for Japan to surpass the economic achievements they ever had any time before the war. With MITI in place, it took Japan less than quarter century, after the Second World War, to grow the GDP by nearly 10 per cent per annum. The mining, construction, manufacturing and infrastructural sectors also expanded, accounting for over 41% of people in the labor force and leaving just 26% for the agricultural sector (Howe, 1996). Political Economy Factor Export-led industrialization (ELI) approach to economic development was adopted. With ELI, Japan was able to export products such as coal and steels because she had the comparative advantage over several industrialized or industrializing nations. This was made possible through liberalization of imports in the 1980s. The Japanese domestic markets were made open to foreign completion and Japan was enabled to access many other world markets in exchange. ELI was executed in stages. Japan would export (relatively) cheap products of labor-intensive industries, like textile, followed by exporting value-added products of capital intensive industries such as the coal, machinery and steel industries, and followed lastly by exporting products manufactured by the technologically-intensive industries (Howe, 1996, Pp. 88-102). The system was controlled actively and effectively by the government of Japan, and was a huge success. Japan reaped quite some economic benefits from her ELI approach. First of all, her production expanded because she was producing for the big international market rather than the small domestic market. Secondly, Japan was able to surpass her debts, thus making it much easier to service debts. Normally, when debts are surpassed in international trade, a country earns profits which can then be used to further develop the domestic industries. This explains the rapid expansion of the Japanese industrial sector in the 1980s before the oil crisis which led to recession of the 1990s. It is believed that Japan created the East Asian economic development model. Apart from the Export-Led Industrialization (ELI) approach, the other aspects of the East Asian economic development model are Corporatist Developmental State and the State Policy and Intervention. The Corporatists Developmental State is a very different approach to the free market economy model. As opposed to the free market economy which emphasizes resource allocation as the principal force of growth, the Corporatists Developmental State puts emphasis on capital accumulation as the principal force of growth (Imak, 1986). It also allowed the government to control the industrial sector and act as the chief arbiter to ensure that any economic decisions made by the individual industries were in line with the long-term goals for economic growth. Thus, the state and industrial sector work very closely, unlike in the free market situation where the forces of demand and supply, and not the government, arbitrate economic decisions. The Corporatist Development State accounts for the streamlined Japanese industrial sector. The industrial sector of the East Asian nations such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, and other Corporatist Development economies are more organized than those of other countries that are shaped by the market forces of demand and supply (Beasley, 1999). The state policy and intervention component of the East Asian/Japan’s economic development model involves identifying strategic firms and sectors that the government needs to give some special, preferential treatment and support. Another practice here is a policy which is perceived to be largely neo-mercantilist; the policy and practice of minimizing imports while maximizing exports. Still under state policy and intervention, the state has the responsibility of establishing rules, priorities, parameters, and the infrastructure required to harmoniously integrate the component parts of the economy and society in order to achieve a common good for the society as a whole while the component parts of the economy remain self-motivated and self-managing within the organic structures initiated by the state (Imak, 1986). Despite suffering economic upsets in the late 1980s and early1990s whose effects lasted an entire decade, Japan still ranks the third largest economy in the world after USA and China, her East Asian neighbor. Conclusion The factors of economic growth and development of Japan can be summarized as political stability, literacy, sound policies, nationalism and culture and, lastly, Export-Led Industrialization. Japan post-war politics was dominated by a single party, the Liberal Democratic Party. The one party system gave the country a sense of direction and ensured that there was political stability necessary for economic development. Japan’s value for education started during the Meiji period, and at some point, the country ranked top globally in literacy rates. The first government of the post-war period ensured that there was quality education provided in the learning institutions (Karan & Gilbreath, 2005). The access to education was made universal, making education and literacy two very important economic development factors. There were sound government institutions such as the MITI and several government bureaucrats who formulated policies which were implemented devoid of political interference. The export-led industrialization proved to be a very huge success and was guided actively and effectively by the government. There was thus a sense of direction in the way business was conducted. Nationalism and culture were upheld in both prewar and postwar Japan, and were channeled to the development of the economy (Ryna, 2000). A similar approach of applying nationalism and cultural values to economic development was adopted by Japan’s East Asian neighbors such as South Korea, Taiwan and even Singapore, and it turned out to be a huge success for them also. References Beasley, W. G. (1999). The Japanese Experience: A Short History of Japan. University of California Press. Pp. 42-45. Hiroshi, S., & Hitoshi, H. (1999). Japan and Singapore in the World Economy: Japan’s Economic Advance into Singapore, 1870-1965. Routledge. P. 17-62. Howe, C. (1996). The Origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy. Hurst & Company, pp. 58f. Imak, M. (1986). The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success. New York, NY: Random House. Jansen, M. B. (2000). The Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge: Havard University Press. Karan, P., & Gilbreath, D. (2005). Japan in the 21st Century. University Press of Kentucky. Pp. 18-21, 41. Ryna, L. (2000). The Asian Economic Miracle Unmasked: The Political Economy of the Reality. International Journal of Social Economics, 27 (7-10): 802-815. Totman, C. (1981). Japan before Perry: A Short History. Berkley: University of California Press. Read More