State-Building, Economic Development, and Democracy : The Japanese Experience
The remolding of the state from an autocratic to a democratic one in postwar Japan is sometimes regarded as a successful case of external intervention for state-building. When Americans landed in Japan two weeks after Japan's acceptance of unc...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/704191468272998125/State-building-economic-development-and-democracy-the-Japanese-experience http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27507 |
| Summary: | The remolding of the state from an
autocratic to a democratic one in postwar Japan is sometimes
regarded as a successful case of external intervention for
state-building. When Americans landed in Japan two weeks
after Japan's acceptance of unconditional surrender,
they expected to meet a fanatic and intransigent people.
Instead they were surprised by the orderly and peaceful
behavior of Japanese soldiers and citizens (Tamaki 2005,
13-20). Disarmament, demobilization, repatriation, and
reintegration (into their home towns/villages) of millions
of soldiers proceeded surprisingly smooth between 1945 and
1948. The authoritarian state gave way to a democratic one
within two years of the beginning of the American occupation
and democracy has persisted since1. And finally, the
Japanese economy had already begun to experience high growth
when the occupation ended in April 1952. In every respect,
American occupation policies seem to have been successful.
Against this image of the American occupation in Japan, this
paper will argue that American policies were only partially
helpful in the democratic remolding and economic development
of postwar Japan. The prewar political and economic
experiences of the Japanese themselves, and the
psychological impact of the defeat, played equally important
roles in the democratic rebirth of the Japanese state. Those
in search of solutions to the development challenges facing
fragile countries today should understand that Japan's
'success' did not begin in 1945 and was not the
result of a peace settlement quickly followed by new
institutions. The ground work for Japanese success was 80-90
years in the making. Analysis of state-building, economic
development and democracy in Japan must start from the Meiji
restoration of 1868. |
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