ABSTRACT
A major problem in discussing education and democracy in Japan or, indeed, in any other country is one of definitions. Although providing a clear and rigorous definition of what is meant by democracy and democratic education is theoretically desirable, this approach often leads to other difficulties. For example, if democratic education is defined in terms of an idealized version of democracy, it becomes nothing more than a paradigm existing only in the minds of political theorists. Under these circumstances it is difficult to suggest that a system of democratic education can exist anywhere in the world. Perhaps democratic education, on the other hand, should be pragmatically evaluated as to how well it compares with the somewhat imperfect and different democratic systems found in places like the United States, England, or France. If a country’s educational system contains both democratic as well as undemocratic elements (as many do), should it be classified as democratic or undemocratic? At what point does it become one or the other? Finally, we should recognize that democratic institutions can exist in a variety of configurations resulting from unique historical and cultural circumstances. Democratic institutions are not monolithic, and viable variations can be found in both decentralized and highly centralized societies, as well as in states on all but the extremes of the political spectrum.
