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1 - The Political Economy of the Abe Government

from Part I - Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2021

By
Takeo Hoshi  and
Phillip Y. Lipscy
Edited by
Takeo Hoshi  and
Phillip Y. Lipscy
Takeo Hoshi
Affiliation:
University of Tokyo
Phillip Y. Lipscy
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
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Summary

The government of Shinzo Abe represents an important turning point in Japanese politics and political economy. Abe became the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history, and his government enacted important reforms under the banner of “Abenomics.” In this introductory chapter, we provide a broad review of the Abe government and its policies and point out several apparent puzzles to motivate the volume. We argue that the Abe government is the clearest manifestation of a new Japanese political system that represents a full transition away from the 1955 system. The new system is characterized by a strong prime minister with centralized authority, careful management of the prime minister’s popularity, and a focus on policies with broad, popular appeal. Abe utilized and strengthened Japan’s new political institutions to implement significant policy changes across a wide range of issue areas, including monetary and fiscal policy, the labor market, corporate governance, agricultural reforms, and national security.

Keywords

Shinzo AbeAbenomicsreformsthree arrowsAbe modelpoliticspolitical scienceeconomicsmacroeconomicsLiberal Democratic Party (LDP)
Type
Chapter
Information
The Political Economy of the Abe Government and Abenomics Reforms , pp. 3 - 40
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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