ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the overall levels of political support in Britain and Japan. It then turn to the evidence of positive feelings about political institutions and ground rules: are citizens satisfied in general with the way democracy works in their country. The chapter considers the two central attributes of compliant/subject support: are citizens disposed to be compliant with authority, and are they inclined willingly to acquiesce in elite control of decision making. A comparison of British and Japanese support for their respective political regimes hinges on the motives for their support. Most Japan specialists argue that instrumental/conditional forces are the strongest motive for compliance, but that is not to say that normative forces do not also come into play. There is little normative support in the sense one saw in Britain, that is, individual concurrence with the values embodied in government policies and practices. Despite different cultural bases for compliant/subject support, Britain and Japan are more similar than normally thought.
