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RELATED TOPIC:
THE EMPEROR

RELATED TOPIC:
THE JAPANESE BUREAUCRACY

RELATED TOPIC:
THE JAPANESE DIET (PARLIAMENT)

RELATED TOPIC:
INTEREST GROUPS IN JAPANESE POLITICS

RELATED TOPIC:
ELECTION LAWS

RELATED TOPIC:
THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM

 
THE GOVERNMENT OF MODERN JAPAN:
THE PRIME MINISTER

A Culture of Consensus Leadership

Gerald L. Curtis :: The leadership style that we see employed by most Japanese prime ministers is a consequence not simply of institutional factors, namely that he is not an independently elected leader of the country as the American president is, for example. But, because this is a style of leadership with which Japanese feel very comfortable and which tends to characterize leadership in Japan in many different aspects of social life — whether it be as leader of a company, as president of a company, as leader of a political party, as head of one group or another — the emphasis on the need to build consensus and to involve a larger group of people in making decisions is something that has an enduring quality to it in the Japanese context.

Now one can quickly think of exceptions to this rule — of the powerful dominating Japanese business man, of the strong and charismatic Japanese political leader. Such people of course exist, just as consensus-oriented, group-oriented politicians exist in the United States and in other Western countries as well. But, as a general characteristic, one can say that, in Japan, political leadership, particularly prime ministerial leadership, has not been as strong or as individually focused as is true in other countries.