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Transformation of the Japanese State in Antimonopoly Regulation after the 1980s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 January 2018

MASAHIRO MOGAKI*
Affiliation:
International Centre, Keio University, [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract

Although state transformation after the 1980s has been a major topic of debate in political science, the transformation of the Japanese state has not been fully explored, with the pluralist and rational choice approaches dominating within the Japanese politics literature. This article addresses the lacuna by exploring state transformation in Japan's antimonopoly regulation after the 1980s, focusing on the state at the macro level through analysing evolving power relations within the core executive in response to the challenges of governance. The case study reveals the flexible change of power relations within the core executive; the core executive retained its dominance within policy-making arenas through this adaptation, which is regarded as the reconstitution of the state. Drawing on that, the article argues that the nature of state transformation in Japan is the sustained dominance of the core executive as a collective group over the sector through reconstituting the state.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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