ABSTRACT

Despite their ubiquity, neighborhood associations are little studied by political scientists. Yet such local, community organizations can have important indirect influences on public policy. This chapter argues that Japan’s neighborhood associations (NHAs) intersect public policy in two important ways. First, NHAs are beneficiaries of public support. Second, neighborhood associations support the effective and efficient implementation of public policy or, in a word, governance, through their sustaining of social capital. A great deal of recent research has focused on the voluntary organizations that are seen as the building blocks of civil society. Drawing on a long tradition within social theory, influential arguments have been put forward linking the extent and quality of popular associational life to several important and desirable outcomes. Civil society is said to help inculcate engaged and participatory citizens, contribute to the health and persistence of democracy, and foster responsive and effective government.1