ABSTRACT
Japan is one of Asia’s oldest democracies and one of the world’s most stable, but the question of how deeply rooted democratic institutions and norms are in Japan has been one of the most enduring questions of the post-Asia-Pacific War era. Political scientists have tended to focus on the shortcomings of Japan’s democracy, painting a weak society that is subordinate to a strong state. This chapter examines how well Japan fares on contemporary, comparative measures of democratic performance with a sustained focus on how the interplay between citizens and the state has enabled Japan’s democracy to evolve over time.
