Deck 6: Japan

Question 1

Japan's iron triangle includes which of the following three constituencies?

A)workers, politicians, bureaucrats
B)politicians, businessmen, workers
C)businessmen, soldiers, politicians
D)bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians
E)soldiers, bureaucrats, politicians

Answer 1

D

Question 2

What did the Democratic Party of Japan promise voters as they came into power in 2009?

A)to maintain corporate welfare
B)to expand public works
C)to weaken the iron triangle
D)to end support of organized labor
E)to end support of agriculture

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Japan's nineteenth-century modernizing slogan "rich country, strong military" best reflects which one of the following political economic systems?

A)liberal
B)social-democratic
C)mercantilist
D)communist
E)pragmatist

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following statements about the position of the Japanese prime minister is accurate?

A)The prime minister is appointed by the emperor and then sent for approval by the Diet.
B)The prime minister is elected by the political party holding a majority of seats in the House of Representatives.
C)The prime minister draws the cabinet from the House of Councillors.
D)The prime minister is chosen by the House of Representatives and is subject to approval by the House of Councillors.
E)The prime minister typically requires very little help from the chosen cabinet.

Question 5

The shogun was the title for feudal Japan's:

A)largest castles.
B)dominant lords.
C)imported Portuguese cannon.
D)lowly peasant class.
E)Chinese mercenaries.

Question 6

In which of the following ways does the Liberal Democratic Party differ from the Democratic Party of Japan?

A)It has demonstrated more electoral success in the aggregate.
B)It has largely avoided charges of corruption.
C)It places no time limits on the post of party president.
D)It has managed to avoid participation in a "twisted Diet."
E)It expresses less nationalist sentiment.

Question 7

Which of the following best describes the period known as Taisho democracy?

A)feudal-era localized democratic experiments
B)a short-lived era of democratization during the 1920s
C)elitist democracy practiced in Japan today
D)emperor-centered illiberal democracy practiced in wartime Japan
E)political system imposed on colonies by imperial Japan

Question 8

In recent years, no ruling party or coalition has controlled both legislative chambers, a condition referred to in Japan as:

A)a hung parliament.
B)cohabitation.
C)stalemate.
D)a twisted Diet.
E)a divided Diet.

Question 9

Which of the following best describes the components of the Yoshida Doctrine?

A)focus on domestic economic recovery and reliance on American military protection
B)development of a strong Japanese military and expansion of foreign trade
C)replacement of state corporatism with more liberal economic policies
D)abandonment of agricultural and corporate subsidies
E)a turning away from foreign interventions and a focus on domestic political development

Question 10

Ainu and burakumin are examples of:

A)new quasi-federal regions in Japan.
B)groups in Japan that face discrimination.
C)neocorporatist business organizations inside the iron triangle.
D)environmental groups in Japan.
E)Japan's new frigate-class naval destroyers.

Question 11

Which of the following statements about the Meiji Restoration is accurate?

A)It involved creation of a Western-style parliament in which delegates had little real power.
B)Cabinet ministers held real power, and the position of emperor was reduced to a symbolic figurehead.
C)Oligarchs furthered the restoration by eliminating all traces of native religions and embracing secularism.
D)The bureaucracy was turned over to control of the cabinet ministers and merit-based promotion was eliminated.
E)Meiji foreign policy involved a shattering of treaties with the West while emulating Western policies.

Question 12

Historically, Japan's political leadership has been characterized by a persistent division of labor between:

A)bourgeoisie and proletariat.
B)shoguns and zaibatsu.
C)those who rule and those who symbolically reign.
D)warriors and clerics.
E)those who represent the people and those who represent the elites.

Question 13

Amakudari, or "descent from heaven," refers to:

A)the creation myth legitimizing the divine right of Japan's emperor.
B)the practice of retiring bureaucrats assuming positions in corporations or public office.
C)the battle cry of Japan's World War II kamikaze suicide pilots.
D)government loans to Japan's strategic industries.
E)illicit campaign contributions coming from corporations.

Question 14

Japan's lower house is elected by which of the following electoral systems?

A)mixed single-member district and proportional representation
B)proportional representation
C)plurality single-member district
D)plurality multimember district
E)single-member district

Question 15

Which of the following statements about Japan's Liberal Democratic Party is accurate?

A)It has demonstrated a strong but unrealized commitment to expanding Japanese defense forces.
B)It has traditionally been marked by a very democratic internal party process.
C)It represents the "half" of Japan's former one-and-a-half party system.
D)It is the most left-leaning of Japan's major parties.
E)It maintains a largely nonideological commitment to winning elections.

Question 16

Article 9 in Japan's postwar constitution:

A)forbids the importation of foreign rice.
B)severely restricts immigration.
C)renounces war as a sovereign right.
D)renounces the emperor's divinity.
E)separates church and state.

Question 17

Which of the following best describes Japan's process of developing a modern economy and political structure?

A)Modern economic and political development came through centuries of grassroots industrialization and local democracy.
B)Modern economic and political development came primarily through a popular revolution in the sixteenth century that created one of the world's first democracies.
C)Modern economic and political development was primarily imposed by the United States during occupation after World War II.
D)Modern economic and political development occurred in a rapid, top-down process forced by elites in the late nineteenth century.
E)Modern economic and political development was a product of post-World War II Japanese emulation of Western European states.

Question 18

The Meiji Restoration refers to the:

A)eighth-century introduction of Buddhism to Japan.
B)reconstruction of Japan following World War II.
C)nineteenth-century modernizing revolution in Japan.
D)seventeenth-century introduction of Christianity to Japan.
E)resurgence of Shintoism in feudal Japan.

Question 19

Which of the following best characterizes the nature of Japan's postwar party system?

A)a two-party system
B)long dominated by a single party
C)fragmented across nearly a dozen small parties
D)lacking parties as a result of the 1947 constitutional ban on "factional activity"
E)a series of alternating coalitions from the left and the right

Question 20

In which of the following ways does the Japanese Diet's House of Councillors differ from the House of Representatives?

A)It is more susceptible to introduction of pork-barrel projects.
B)Its members are elected more frequently.
C)It has more power than its counterpart to override executive decisions.
D)It cannot be dissolved.
E)A vote of no confidence can only be achieved with a majority.

Question 21

Which of the following best describes the majority of current Japanese attitudes toward foreign policy?

A)militarist
B)integrationist (favoring an EU-like model for Asia)
C)pacifist
D)isolationist
E)autarkic

Question 22

Why did Japan's "one-and-a-half" party system provide for such a stable government for so long? Why did that stability fracture in 2007?

Question 23

Would you judge the reforms imposed on Japan during the American occupation successful and beneficial? Why or why not?

Question 24

The term zombies refers to:

A)opposition parties in Japan's parliament that have no power or influence.
B)insolvent firms in Japan propped up by the government.
C)lifetime Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) members of parliament in Japan backed by koenkai.
D)outdated political policies that still shape LDP policies in Japan.
E)the elderly in Japan who are no longer covered by national health care.

Question 25

Describe Japan's industrial policy. How did government guidance and support lead to booming decades of growth, and what were the structural problems that became apparent in the 1990s?

Question 26

Discuss the consequences of Japan's historical division of labor between political rulers (shogun, Meiji oligarchs, MacArthur, bureaucrats) and those who reign (emperor, parliament) for the autonomy and capacity of the Japanese state.

Question 27

How does Japan's current economic situation compare to its economy during the 1980s?

A)Iron triangles have little influence in the current economy, though they were important institutions in the 1980s.
B)The government carries more public debt now than it had in the 1980s.
C)The developmental capitalist model has been traded for a liberal model without state influence.
D)Currently there is much more government investment in public works than there had been in the 1980s.
E)The current economy experiences lower unemployment but higher GDP per capita than was seen in the 1980s.

Question 28

The iron triangle of Japan, Inc. has come under increased criticism and scrutiny recently because of:

A)the inability of Japan, Inc. to dominate new Chinese and South Korean tech producers.
B)revelations of scandals within the triangle.
C)the growing Chinese military dominance in the region.
D)the collapse of the DPJ government.
E)the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Question 29

Why is Japan's bureaucracy so powerful, and what prevents its reform? Should Japan take radical measures to eliminate its powerful iron triangle?

Question 30

Japan currently faces territorial issues with which three of the following countries?

A)Taiwan, the Philippines, and China
B)North Korea, China, and the Philippines
C)Russia, Taiwan, and South Korea
D)North Korea, Russia, and the Philippines
E)Russia, China, and South Korea