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SISEA 536, SISEA 436, and POL
S 429 Political Parties in Japan and East Asia
The focus of this class is on
political parties in Japan. Democracy,
representation, and governance are addressed through
that lens. Modern representative democracy is
inconceivable without political parties. We will
also investigate South Korean political parties, but
the bulk of our attention is on Japan. The class
will combine theoretical readings on political
parties with an intensive study of Japanese
political parties. Students with either a good
general understanding of Japan’s postwar political
history or a thorough knowledge of political party
theory (but both are not required) will be best
positioned to succeed in the course. Topics
include: democracy and representation, parties and
party competition, Japanese political parties
pre-1993, party system change, Japanese political
parties since 1993, electoral reform causes and
consequences, factions in Japanese parties, koenkai
(personal support organizations), policy-making and
PARC, the Diet, coalition government, interest
groups and political parties, parties and voters.
For the Course Homepage, click
here.
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Actual Cover of 2006 Task Force Group
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SIS 495 Task Force
As a Task
Force, the theme of this class changes from year to
year. In Winter 2005, the course was Remilitarizing
Japan? In 2006, the Task Force theme was
"East Asian Textbook Controversy."
SIS 495 Task Force:
East Asian Textbook Controversy (Winter 2006)
Several times in
recent years, tensions have flared between Japan and
its neighbors over the content of Japanese school
history textbooks. South Korea and China have lodged
complaints that Japan is whitewashing its history.
Japanese counter that Korean and Chinese textbooks
deliberately inflame anti-Japanese nationalist
sentiment. In April 2005, anti-Japanese riots
erupted in several Chinese cities. At the time,
China made statements indicating opposition to
Japan’s entry to the United Nations Security
Council, a goal that the US has gone on record
supporting. Tensions among Korea, China, and Japan
are a matter of grave concern to US policymakers.
You are a
member of a Task Force assembled by the US State
Department to investigate this issue. Your mission
is not to judge Japan’s history, or even the merits
of its textbooks. Your assignment as a member of the
Task Force is to prepare a brief for your US State
Department bosses about whether this controversy
hurts or benefits US interests in the region, and
what, if any, steps the US should take regarding
textbook issues. Through that prism, you may
evaluate the merits of the textbooks, Chinese and
South Korean claims, Japanese counterclaims, and
where the US interest lies. Your assignment requires
you to also provide recommendations on concrete
steps the US should take (or avoid taking).
SIS 495 Task Force:
Remilitarizing Japan? (Winter 2005)
Course Description:
Task Force class on
theme of “Remilitarizing Japan?” The Liberal
Democratic Party’s proposed revision of the Japanese
Constitution would likely also include changes in
Article 9, the article that renounces war and is
widely seen as the cornerstone of Japanese pacifism.
Our alliance with Japan is a pivotal element of
America’s global strategy, but will the rise of
China and the Japanese response to this transform
the US-Japan alliance? Your Task Force is charged
with preparing a brief for the Secretary of State on
this issue. Key points you must address are: (1) is
the proposed change in Article 9 in the national
interest of the United States or not? (2) is it
practical or advisable for the US to support or
oppose this proposed change, and if so, what steps
should the US take? And, (3) if the proposed changes
come to pass, what steps should the US take? This
challenging task force requires a variety of
expertise sets: domestic Japanese party politics,
international relations theory, China’s role in East
Asia, US global strategy, and tactical level US
policy initiatives and instruments.
For the Course Homepage, click
here.
SIS 495 Task Force:
Building a
Better American Democracy: Practical Solutions for
Electoral Reform in Washington State (Winter 2012)
Course Description:
All the problems we have with
politics in Washington State, not to mention
Washington DC, can seem overwhelming. You have been
hired as consultants to figure out what we can do
about it in Washington State. Your brief is to come
up with a strategy and recommendations for electoral
system change. In representative democracies,
electoral systems provide the basis for the most
primal connection between politicians and voters. In
2006, Pierce County adopted a "instant-runoff
voting" system, or "ranked choice" voting. On May 5,
2010, United Kingdom voters rejected this same
system. Electoral reform has succeeded in the past
two decades in dozens of countries including Italy,
Japan, and New Zealand, and failed in many others.
Politics is the art of the possible, not the science
of the perfect. So, your job is not to figure out
which electoral system is "best" in the ideal realm
of political science theory, but to come up with a
plan to actually realize the best possible change.
That means knowing local politics, interest groups,
lobbying techniques and how to frame ideas so they
catch on with the public.
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