political accountability

is not located in one center. Rather, a kafkaesque 'system' of power links semi-autonomous groups sharing in the exercise of power where no one is ultimately in charge and there is no hard core, as it were, of institutions. Japan is a spider web without a spider at the center.

Many Japanese, as well as academic specialist on Japan, insist that Japan is different from the West and 'different' often means 'unique.' Karel Van Wolferen, for example, in a perceptive and widely noted book, insist on a sharp contrast between 'Japan' and 'the West.' What is unique about Japan, he suggests, is the absence of any one center of political accountability: a Kafkaesque 'System' of power links semiautonomous groups sharing in the exercise of power. A complex of overlapping hierarchies has no peak. 'No one is ultimately in charge.' The System is neither monolithic nor pluralistic. Although it lacks a political center, it does have a 'hard core, as it were, of institutions numerous, closely packed, interconnected that are tightly harnessed. Japan is a spider web without a spider at the center. In such a system there are no brakes, no compass. Informed public debate, political accountability, and informed political choice are all but impossible. Japan's collusive political oligopoly may be advantageous for economic groth at home and economic expansion abroad, but it vitiates a liberal democratic politics and a responsible foreign policy.

political accountability, n.All

political accountability