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Japanese Political Parties Face Public Opinion: Leading, Responding, or Ignoring?

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Japanese Public Opinion and the War on Terrorism

Abstract

Does Japanese public opinion influence political parties and ultimately shape foreign policy? It is common to dismiss the influence of public opinion in Japan. In contrast to American debates between elitists1 and pluralists,2 with respect to Japan the elitist view has dominated. Public opinion is often claimed to have had little influence on Japanese foreign policy, and public opinion is often seen as subject to elite molding.3

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Notes

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Authors
  1. Paul Midford
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  2. Paul D. Scott
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of International Public Policy, Osaka University, Japan

    Robert D. Eldridge (associate professor of Japanese political and diplomatic history and U.S.-Japan relations) (associate professor of Japanese political and diplomatic history and U.S.-Japan relations)

  2. Department of Political Science and Sociology, Trondheim, Norway

    Paul Midford (associate professor, and director of the Japan Program) (associate professor, and director of the Japan Program)

  3. Norwegian University for Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

    Paul Midford (associate professor, and director of the Japan Program) (associate professor, and director of the Japan Program)

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© 2008 Robert D. Eldridge and Paul Midford

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Midford, P., Scott, P. (2008). Japanese Political Parties Face Public Opinion: Leading, Responding, or Ignoring?. In: Eldridge, R.D., Midford, P. (eds) Japanese Public Opinion and the War on Terrorism. Palgrave Macmillan Series in International Political Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230613836_5

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