Using grid-group theory to explain distinctive Japanese political institutions

Particularly for Americans, Japanese political institutions present a paradox. On one hand, in comparison to other advanced industrial societies the size of Japan's public sector (as a proportion of GDP) is extremely small. On the other hand, Japan's small but expert state is highly interventionary, leaving far less to the vagaries of markets than the United States or even the more statist societies of Europe (Johnson 1982). This contrast leaves many American analysts, particularly economists but others (Esping-Andersen 1997) as well, in a quandary as to whether Japan is a liberal individualistic society. I draw on Douglas-Wildavsky “grid-group” theory to explain these seemingly contradictory institutional characteristics as the result, not of liberal individualistic influence, but of conflict between and the alternation in dominance of two factions of Japanese hierarchy. My primary focus of attention rests on showing how these two hierarchical factions produce a public policy orientation with a predisposition toward state social intervention but periodic restraint with respect to public social programs that accounts for the modest fiscal size of the active Japanese state. I also examine Japanese public policy responses to recent difficulties in overcoming recession and confronting increasing immigration to clinch the case that Japan is a society in which various factions of hierarchy, rather than liberal individualism, dominate.     

A Legal Semiotics Framework for Exploring the Origins of Hermagorean Stasis

Stasis is a process of classical rhetoric that identifies the core issue in a trial or a similar debate. Hermagoras of Temnos included the first comprehensive analysis of stasis in his second-century BCE treatise on rhetoric, now lost. Modern scholars tend to echo George Kennedy, who maintains that Hermagoras’ inspiration for the hierarchical structure of stasis is indeterminate. This article, however, employs scholarship in legal semiotics, including the work of Miklós K?ncz?l and Bernard S. Jackson, to argue that Hermagoras based stasiastic structure on Aristotle’s first-figure syllogism. Ideally, knowledge of that structure can enhance modern applications of stasis.     

Guardians of access: Local prosecutors and open meetings laws

Open meetings laws have long frustrated access advocates, who allege that prosecutors do little to ensure compliance. The states provide a variety of enforcement powers in their open meetings laws, but powerful anecdotal evidence exists supporting the contention that there is little enforcement.

Prosecutorial discretion plays an obvious, though largely unstudied, role in the enforcement picture. To gain an understanding of the role of statutory language, prosecutorial discretion and other factors on open meetings enforcement efforts, the researchers conducted a national study of the officials responsible for enforcing open meetings laws. The survey offers the first national data on local enforcement activity and the first look at how prosecutors across the country view open meetings laws, illustrating the many weaknesses in current enforcement schemes. The authors argue that the data support the re‐examination of the way access laws are enforced.     

A Retrospective Approach to Valuation of Natural Resources in Wildland Fire Litigation

Wildland fires in California have been growing larger, more intense, and harder to control, and monetary damages sought and recovered by the government have been greater than ever. Intangible environmental damages is the category with the widest range of potential liability for which no quantification technique currently exists for use in fire litigation. In this article, we present our retrospective analysis of eight cases for which monetary awards have been made for wildfire-related intangible environmental damages. We developed a scale for intangible damages ranging from $18/acre to $1,600/acre that is aligned with environmental attributes of the affected forest land.     

The Financial Health of Political Parties in English Constituencies, 2004–05

Limited data have been available on the financial situation of the constituency branches of England's main political parties. Using recent annual accounts for all constituency parties with a turnover of £25,000 per annum or more in 2005, this paper reviews their financial health. It finds very little evidence of substantial financial turnover for the vast majority of local Labour parties and only a slightly better situation for the Liberal Democrats: many more local Conservative parties meet the reporting threshold but, even so, in almost half of all English constituencies none of the three parties reported a turnover of £25,000 or more. Local Conservative parties also differ substantially from the other two in their income sources and expenditure patterns.