The developmental state and public participation: The case of energy policymaking in post-Fukushima Japan

After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the Japanese government tried to democratize energy policy-making by introducing public participation. Over the course of its implementation, however, public participation came to be subordinated to expert committees as the primary mechanism of policy ra...

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Main Author: SAITO, Hiro
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Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2021
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3175
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4432/viewcontent/development__PV.pdf
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spelling sg-smu-ink.soss_research-44322023-09-14T05:27:10Z The developmental state and public participation: The case of energy policymaking in post-Fukushima Japan SAITO, Hiro After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the Japanese government tried to democratize energy policy-making by introducing public participation. Over the course of its implementation, however, public participation came to be subordinated to expert committees as the primary mechanism of policy rationalization. The expert committees not only neutralized the results of public participation but also discounted the necessity of public participation itself. This trajectory of public participation, from its historic introduction to eventual collapse, can be fully explained only in reference to complex interactions between the macroinstitutions and microsituations of Japanese policy-making at the time of the nuclear disaster: the macroinstitutional reassembling of the developmental state to reallocate more power from the bureaucracy to the cabinet office and the civil society vis-à-vis the microsituational, shifting power dynamics involving political parties, citizens and NGOs, businesses and labor unions, and other relevant actors. This case study thus helps advance the growing science and technology studies research on how the macro and microparameters of policy-making, ranging from the durable institutions of nation-states to situationally specific political struggles, combine to shape the designs, implementations, and policy influences of public participation at particular places and times as well as in particular policy domains. 2021-01-01T08:00:00Z text application/pdf https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3175 info:doi/10.1177/0162243920905000 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4432/viewcontent/development__PV.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Research Collection School of Social Sciences eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University democracy epistemic authority expertise nuclear energy political economy Asian Studies Energy Policy Political Economy Sociology
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic democracy
epistemic authority
expertise
nuclear energy
political economy
Asian Studies
Energy Policy
Political Economy
Sociology
spellingShingle democracy
epistemic authority
expertise
nuclear energy
political economy
Asian Studies
Energy Policy
Political Economy
Sociology
SAITO, Hiro
The developmental state and public participation: The case of energy policymaking in post-Fukushima Japan
description After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the Japanese government tried to democratize energy policy-making by introducing public participation. Over the course of its implementation, however, public participation came to be subordinated to expert committees as the primary mechanism of policy rationalization. The expert committees not only neutralized the results of public participation but also discounted the necessity of public participation itself. This trajectory of public participation, from its historic introduction to eventual collapse, can be fully explained only in reference to complex interactions between the macroinstitutions and microsituations of Japanese policy-making at the time of the nuclear disaster: the macroinstitutional reassembling of the developmental state to reallocate more power from the bureaucracy to the cabinet office and the civil society vis-à-vis the microsituational, shifting power dynamics involving political parties, citizens and NGOs, businesses and labor unions, and other relevant actors. This case study thus helps advance the growing science and technology studies research on how the macro and microparameters of policy-making, ranging from the durable institutions of nation-states to situationally specific political struggles, combine to shape the designs, implementations, and policy influences of public participation at particular places and times as well as in particular policy domains.
format text
author SAITO, Hiro
author_facet SAITO, Hiro
author_sort SAITO, Hiro
title The developmental state and public participation: The case of energy policymaking in post-Fukushima Japan
title_short The developmental state and public participation: The case of energy policymaking in post-Fukushima Japan
title_full The developmental state and public participation: The case of energy policymaking in post-Fukushima Japan
title_fullStr The developmental state and public participation: The case of energy policymaking in post-Fukushima Japan
title_full_unstemmed The developmental state and public participation: The case of energy policymaking in post-Fukushima Japan
title_sort developmental state and public participation: the case of energy policymaking in post-fukushima japan
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2021
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3175
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4432/viewcontent/development__PV.pdf
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