Over the course of its existence, Japan has endured a great deal and has overcome many significant obstacles, such as natural disasters, post war reparations, government corruption and even the threat of invasion. Although Japan and Japanese politics have seen a plethora change over the course of its history. Evolving from aristocratic state of the Tokugawa period, followed by the authoritarian rule of the Meiji Period under the leadership of Emperor Hirohito and eventually to the current democracy in place, Japan has seen many different forms of government. For a state to be considered a democracy, it must have a government in which adult citizens exercise power and civic responsibility, directly, or through their freely elected representatives.
…show more content…
Such as the one party dominance by the Liberal Democratic Party (L.D.P), government representative accountability, the current electoral system in place and the enhanced power of bureaucracies, are all aspects of Japans democracy that can and have been questioned for years. While no functioning democracy is perfect, many outsiders looked at Japan as a state teetering on the edge of democracy. But since the occupations of the United States under General Douglas MacArthur at the end of World War II in 1945, Japan has been trending in no other way than a functioning …show more content…
Following the conclusion of World War II which ended in 1945, the United States, under the watchful eye of general MacArthur, spent a long seven years of occupation, restructuring the institutions that had previously existed in Japan. In these seven years of occupation under General MacArthur, the United States were able to launch the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, more commonly know as S.C.A.P. While one of biggest intensions of S.C.A.P was to establish democratic reform, there were many more barriers to overcome before an attempt to transform Japan into a democratic state could occur. As mentioned, the installment of S.C.A.P allowed for the reconstruction of the Japanese previous constitution, additionally, S.C.A.P placed a heavy emphasis on the expulsion of high ranking military leaders, and bringing them to trial, under conviction of war crime allegations. In an attempt to clean house of all bureaucratic, political figureheads from political power, S.C.A.P hoped to properly install new political officials while also reconstructing the countries constitution at the same time. The authoritarian military power that once headed to Japanese hierarchy and threatened much of the world was stripped of its military leaders and ideology for implemented reconstruction. On page 80 of
Such as the one party dominance by the Liberal Democratic Party (L.D.P), government representative accountability, the current electoral system in place and the enhanced power of bureaucracies, are all aspects of Japans democracy that can and have been questioned for years. While no functioning democracy is perfect, many outsiders looked at Japan as a state teetering on the edge of democracy. But since the occupations of the United States under General Douglas MacArthur at the end of World War II in 1945, Japan has been trending in no other way than a functioning …show more content…
Following the conclusion of World War II which ended in 1945, the United States, under the watchful eye of general MacArthur, spent a long seven years of occupation, restructuring the institutions that had previously existed in Japan. In these seven years of occupation under General MacArthur, the United States were able to launch the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, more commonly know as S.C.A.P. While one of biggest intensions of S.C.A.P was to establish democratic reform, there were many more barriers to overcome before an attempt to transform Japan into a democratic state could occur. As mentioned, the installment of S.C.A.P allowed for the reconstruction of the Japanese previous constitution, additionally, S.C.A.P placed a heavy emphasis on the expulsion of high ranking military leaders, and bringing them to trial, under conviction of war crime allegations. In an attempt to clean house of all bureaucratic, political figureheads from political power, S.C.A.P hoped to properly install new political officials while also reconstructing the countries constitution at the same time. The authoritarian military power that once headed to Japanese hierarchy and threatened much of the world was stripped of its military leaders and ideology for implemented reconstruction. On page 80 of