Seminar Series 2014Tuesday 16 December 2014
6:00pm – 7:30pm
The Power of Politics
Drinks reception from 8:30pm
13-14 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 4QP
Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
This seminar took place just two days after the Japanese Lower House election, while the clock is also ticking towards a General Election in the UK next year. It seemed a timely moment to consider the power that politicians wield in the two countries, and the extent to which they can actually affect the lives of their citizens. How easy is it for politicians to push their policies through the legislature? And when they succeed, how much impact do those policies have?
In Japan, Prime Minister Abe began his current term of office with unusually high public support, and has been in a strong position to push through his “Abenomics” agenda, aimed at revitalising the economy. But it is not yet clear whether this programme has been a success, and the economy has now fallen back into recession after April’s increase in the Consumption Tax.
In the UK, the traditional “first past the post” and two-party dominated electoral system has tended to give political leaders a relatively free hand to impose their policies. But is the current distaste for the existing Westminster parties changing that? The UK now has its first coalition government since World War II, and the rising popularity of smaller parties (notably the Scottish National Party and UKIP) suggests that increasing fragmentation may lie ahead.
Koichi Nakano is an academic who has researched politics and power both in Japan and in other countries. Baron Smith of Clifton is a Liberal Democrat peer with a front-row view of how the UK political scene is changing in practice.
Summary of the seminar, The Power of Politics, PDFAbout the contributors
Baron Trevor Smith of Clifton
Baron Trevor Smith of Clifton studied Politics at the London School of Economics and became active in the Liberal Party (predecessor to the Liberal Democrats) from 1955 onwards. He stood as the party’s candidate in the Lewisham West constituency in the 1959 General Election, and was the youngest candidate of any party that year. Lord Smith then taught politics at several universities, and became vice-chancellor at the University of Ulster in 1991. Knighted for services to higher education in 1996, he became a Liberal Democrat working peer in 1997 and has served since 2000 as spokesperson on Northern Ireland in the House of Lords.
Professor Koichi Nakano
Professor Koichi Nakano is Professor of Comparative Politics, Japanese Politics and Political Theory at Sophia University in Tokyo. His research focuses on a variety of issues within contemporary Japanese politics from the comparative, historical, and philosophical perspectives, including globalisation and nationalism; the Yasukuni problem; and amakudari (revolving door politics). Professor Nakano holds two Bachelor degrees from the Universities of Tokyo and Oxford and an MA and PhD from Princeton University.
Professor Arthur Stockwin (Chair)
Professor Arthur Stockwin is Emeritus Fellow of St. Antony’s College and the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies, University of Oxford. His publications include Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Japan (Routledge, 2003), and Governing Japan (Wiley-Blackwell, 2008). Professor Stockwin is joint General Editor (with Roger Goodman) of the Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies series. In 2004, he received The Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese Government in recognition of his tireless efforts to promote Japanese Studies in the UK.