Alien Notion - Intrinsic Equality in Contemporary Japan
(2005)Department of Political Science
- Abstract
- Abstract
Democracy is, in essence, political equality. Egalitarian government appears incompatible with a hierarchically organized society. Yet there are countries today where the two coexist. The theoretical focus of this study is the principle of intrinsic equality ? the belief that in a democratically governed state equal consideration should be given to all citizens. Can a widely consolidated belief in this principle be present in a democratic nation where society is organized along hierarchical lines? This question is investigated in the form of a case-study of Japan, a long-term, successful democracy located outside the Western cultural hemisphere. Empirical material from multi-disciplinary sources is used, as it provides a fuller... (More) - Abstract
Democracy is, in essence, political equality. Egalitarian government appears incompatible with a hierarchically organized society. Yet there are countries today where the two coexist. The theoretical focus of this study is the principle of intrinsic equality ? the belief that in a democratically governed state equal consideration should be given to all citizens. Can a widely consolidated belief in this principle be present in a democratic nation where society is organized along hierarchical lines? This question is investigated in the form of a case-study of Japan, a long-term, successful democracy located outside the Western cultural hemisphere. Empirical material from multi-disciplinary sources is used, as it provides a fuller panorama of the case. The theoretical foundation is the empirically valid assumption that formally institutionalized democracies develop a consolidated belief in the principle of intrinsic equality, while informally institutionalized democracies are less likely to. The case study design consists of a broad examination of Dahl's six necessary democratic institutions for large-scale representative democracies. Each democratic institution is investigated as to whether it is primarily formally or informally institutionalized. The study reveals that Japan is a primarily informally institutionalized democracy, indicating that a consolidated belief in intrinsic equality has yet to develop.
Keywords: Japan, democratic theory, intrinsic equality, formal institutionalization, informal institutionalization
Characters: 84,910 (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1333553
- author
- Back, Kristina
- supervisor
- organization
- year
- 2005
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Japan, democratic theory, intrinsic equality, formal institutionalization, informal institutionalization, Social sciences, Samhällsvetenskaper, Political and administrative sciences, Statsvetenskap, förvaltningskunskap
- language
- English
- id
- 1333553
- date added to LUP
- 2005-12-13 00:00:00
- date last changed
- 2005-12-13 00:00:00
@misc{1333553,
abstract = {{Abstract
Democracy is, in essence, political equality. Egalitarian government appears incompatible with a hierarchically organized society. Yet there are countries today where the two coexist. The theoretical focus of this study is the principle of intrinsic equality ? the belief that in a democratically governed state equal consideration should be given to all citizens. Can a widely consolidated belief in this principle be present in a democratic nation where society is organized along hierarchical lines? This question is investigated in the form of a case-study of Japan, a long-term, successful democracy located outside the Western cultural hemisphere. Empirical material from multi-disciplinary sources is used, as it provides a fuller panorama of the case. The theoretical foundation is the empirically valid assumption that formally institutionalized democracies develop a consolidated belief in the principle of intrinsic equality, while informally institutionalized democracies are less likely to. The case study design consists of a broad examination of Dahl's six necessary democratic institutions for large-scale representative democracies. Each democratic institution is investigated as to whether it is primarily formally or informally institutionalized. The study reveals that Japan is a primarily informally institutionalized democracy, indicating that a consolidated belief in intrinsic equality has yet to develop.
Keywords: Japan, democratic theory, intrinsic equality, formal institutionalization, informal institutionalization
Characters: 84,910}},
author = {{Back, Kristina}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Alien Notion - Intrinsic Equality in Contemporary Japan}},
year = {{2005}},
}