Tag: Era

Japan’s political landscape has undergone a major transformation over the past 30 years, as the 1955 system was swept away by extensive electoral and administrative reforms, and the LDP lost its uninterrupted grip on power. End of an Era This year marks the end of the three-decade-old Heisei era in Japan, as Emperor Akihito will abdicate in April. In the context of Japanese politics, though, the period that began in 1989 has been one of discontinuity and turbulence. Here, I will give an overview of the major political developments over the past three decades, identifying the factors, both external and institutional, that induced big changes and the consequences of those changes. Sweeping Changes at Home and Abroad By external factors, I am referring to major shifts in the international environment and Japan’s society and economy. While many different factors no doubt contributed to the realization of those reforms, the overriding challenge was to enhance the responsiveness of the political system in the face of the rapid and broad-ranging transfiguration of the post-Cold War world. The most prominent changes made to the political system were the electoral reforms of 1994 and the administrative reforms implemented mainly in 2001. The unchallenged authority Prime Minister Abe Shinz? enjoys in the LDP today is another example of the consolidation of power in the party president. Policy directions were determined not by Kasumigaseki but by the Kantei with the support of the chief cabinet secretary and specially appointed cabinet ministers, notably Takenaka Heiz?, who served as Koizumi’s minister of state for economic and fiscal policy and minister of state for financial services before he become a Diet member. A Challenge for the Next Generation of Leaders The institutional political changes made during the Heisei era have been sweeping, and yet they have not been enough to engender policies that are more effective and responsive to worldwide and social trends.

Over time, because of her own accomplishments, she advanced: presidential candidate, secretary of state, the first woman to be nominated by a major party for the White House. Representative Debbie Dingell, Democrat of Michigan, who succeeded her husband in Congress in 2015, says she believes that she and Mrs. Clinton are emblematic of changing times for women in politics. “Some people would like to say she got it because she had the last name,” referring to her seat in Congress. The Center for American Women and Politics counts 47 widows elected or appointed to Congress in their husband’s place. That was so infuriating.” She had to dissociate herself from her father’s vote against civil rights legislation during her own campaign. Male leaders may have provided women with national exposure and political networks, but as Mrs. Clinton found, their conduct and record could also be liabilities. “You never know with Hillary Clinton, had she not met Bill Clinton, she might well have been a political woman in her own right and maybe life would have been simpler for her,” said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics. Because so many women are running in 2020, with their range of political experience, ideology and race, the coming election may be a truer test of gender attitudes. People are feeling threatened.” Terry Shumaker, who worked on both Clintons’ New Hampshire campaigns, said Mrs. Clinton’s popular vote victory was more of a landmark in shifting attitudes than is often recognized. She made it possible for people to envision a woman being president.”

Polls show socialism has risen in stature, which Mr. McConnell sees as evidence of the new era. Last year, he notes, Gallup found for the first time that Democrats have a more “positive view” of socialism than of capitalism. She calls herself a “democratic socialist.” At the top of the Democratic agenda is a campaign to enact enormous tax hikes on the rich. The Green New Deal is another of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s ambitious ideas. She’s been a House member for less than two months. If anyone defines the new political era, it’s AOC. I have no problem saying that.” Most Republicans don’t take the Green New Deal seriously. Nor are Republicans anxious about polls that show how popular Democratic tax plans are. There’s no chance of that with a GOP Senate and Donald Trump in the White House. It’s possible for Democrats to hold the House and win the Senate and presidency.

And Mr. López Obrador’s current political party, the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA, whose name is an allusion to both Mexico’s patron saint and darker-skinned Mexicans whom López Obrador wants to empower) and its coalition partners (the leftist Workers’ Party and the evangelical Social Encounter Party) are poised to dominate the legislature. The disenchantment with traditional parties reflects two basic failures of the Mexican government during the past six years: first and most important, the blatant high-level corruption among the Mexican political elite, directly involving outgoing President Enrique Peña Nieto, and escalating criminal violence that Peña Nieto increasingly shoved under the rug. AMLO campaigned on all of these issues. He promises a dramatic transformation of Mexico, empowering the underprivileged. An Ambitious but Vague Agenda His populist style aside, AMLO’s key policy focus is indeed vital for the country. The country also critically needs to reduce its pervasive violence and corruption. And even though Mexican business elites vilified AMLO on the campaign trail over the past month or so, anticipating his electoral victory, they have been getting ready to work with him, and he with them. President-elect López Obrador has a long six-month transition process before taking office to work out critical policy details. Two Populists at Each Other’s Borders and Against Their Institutions López Obrador will also need to contend with a Trump administration that has picked many political fights with Mexico. Like Trump, he does not respect Mexican institutions and the need to reform but not undermine them, or the rule of law in general—he sees both laws and institutions as instruments of the power of the corrupt establishment.