ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the degree to which Japan exhibits the "New Political Culture," conceptualized by Terry Clark and Ronald Inglehart to characterize advanced industrial or "post-industrial" societies. Clark and Inglehart base their "New Political Culture" (NPC) theory largely on data from Western Europe and the United States. They attempt to incorporate non-Western case studies, including Japan, but the data which they present outside of the West tends to be limited to just a few survey years. In interpreting Japan's political culture, some scholars focus heavily on the influence of "traditional" values in contemporary Japanese society. In elaborating on the social origins of the NPC, Clark and Inglehart primarily emphasize macroeconomic changes. Central among these are: the decline of agricultural and small family firms, the early twentieth century rise and subsequent decline of large manufacturing firms, and the mid- to late-twentieth century rise of high-technology, information-based service firms.
