The Problem of Bureaucratic Rationality: Tax Politics in Japan

Junko Kato

Published by Princeton University Press 1995

The Problem of Bureaucratic Rationality

Tax Politics in Japan

Junko Kato

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400821556

Overview
Contents

About this book

Through a detailed account of the political battles over Japanese tax reform during the last two decades, Junko Kato draws an unconventional portrait of bureaucratic motivation, showing how fiscal bureaucrats exploit their unique technical knowledge to influence policymaking. Rejecting the notion that the monopolization of policy expertise leads to bureaucratic domination, Kato contends that bureaucrats seek to increase their influence upon politicians by strategically sharing information. She also explores the reason for the relative strength of the bureaucratic organization in comparison to the governing party, whose interest in reelections and intra-party politics may pose dilemmas for individual politicians.

In 1989, the Japanese Diet enacted a broad-based consumption tax after two failed attempts and in the face of widespread public disapproval. Its passage was all the more remarkable for coming just as a series of dramatic financial scandals had begun to undermine popular support for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, fore-shadowing its fall from power four years later. Kato argues that skillful maneuvering by the Ministry of Finance, determined to ensure stable long-term revenues, was decisive in persuading a majority of legislators to oppose their constituents in endorsing an unpopular program of tax reform. Her careful analysis of the Japanese case holds important implications for the study of bureaucratic power and public policy in advanced industrial democracies elsewhere in East Asia and the West.

Author / Editor information

Junko Kato is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Tokyo.

Reviews

Junko Kato has written an excellent book on the politics of tax in Japan and provided an original and stimulating account of the relationship between the bureaucrats from the Ministry of Finance (MOD) and the politicians from the ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

"Filled with valuable insights, this book also provides detailed information on a complicated issue of political economy that has traversed the Japanese political landscape for decades. It is anchored in a broader discussion concerning the general problem of bureaucratic rationality."—T.J. Pempel, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Winner of the 1995 Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Tables Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Note on Conventions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xiii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
CHAPTER ONE. Bureaucratic Rationality and Strategic Behavior: The Framework Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
CHAPTER TWO. Bureaucratic Rationality and Strategic Behavior: Japanese Tax Reform Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	44
CHAPTER THREE0. Lessons for Bureaucrats: From the Proposal for a Tax Increase in the Late 1970s to Fiscal Reconstruction without a Tax Increase in the Early 1980s Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	110
CHAPTER FOUR. Reframing the Tax Issue: The Ministry of Finance’s Fiscal and Tax Policies in the Early 1980s Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	140
CHAPTER FIVE. The Tax Reform Proposal in the mid-1980s: Uneasy Cooperation between Prime Minister Nakasone and the Ministry of Finance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	156
CHAPTER SIX. The Third Attempt: Introduction of the Consumption Tax and the Securities Trading Scandal Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
CHAPTER SEVEN. Conclusion: Bureaucracy, Party, and the Power of Rationality Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	287
Chronology of the Tax Reform Process from 1975 to 1991 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	305
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	309

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