Genro Rule in China and Japan: A Comparative Perspective |
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Authors: | Peter R Moody Jr |
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Institution: | (1) University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA |
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Abstract: | For a time in both Japan (roughly 1890–1915) and much more briefly in China (about 1987–1992), major political decisions were
made by cohesive groups of retired elders of the founding generation. Necessary if not sufficient conditions for rule by elders
include a closed system, with the elite not held responsible to a wider public; and a constitutional or practical vagueness
about the locus of final political authority. The more general pattern in such systems is personal dictatorship, with rule
by elders as an alternative when cultural or political conditions stand in the way of one-man rule. This essay explores the
pattern, conditions, and characteristics of rule by elders in China and Japan as genro rule serves as an alternative to one-man
rule in generational transitions in political regimes with a relatively cohesive ruling group and a weak institutional structure.
Peter R. Moody, Jr. is professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame and he specializes in the study of Chinese
politics. His more recent books include Tradition and Modernization in China and Japan, Political Change in Taiwan, and Political Opposition in Post-Confucian Society. He is editor of China Documents Annual and book review editor for the Review of Politics. He has written on Chinese politics, Asian international affairs, Chinese political thought, international relations theory,
and theory of political parties. |
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Keywords: | China Japan informal politics genro regime consolidation |
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