Politics and Policy in Contemporary Japan
An MIT OpenCourseWare subject introducing the political system and policy process of modern Japan, aimed at upper level undergraduates and graduate students. The course opens with a two week orientation to Japanese history, politics, and society, then moves through five core areas: party politics, electoral politics, interest group politics, bureaucratic politics, and policy, the last of which is broken into seven further sections covering specific issue areas. Students examine how the actors and institutions studied in the first part of the term shape actual policy outcomes across these areas. Materials include the syllabus, readings, and assignments as published by MIT OpenCourseWare, free to access with no certificate offered. It suits anyone wanting a structured, university level grounding in how Japanese government actually functions rather than a general survey of Japanese culture.