Gathering Places
Gathering Places
Japan, Hawaii share
political frustrationsWhen I teach students about Japan I usually spend a class or two talking about the point of studying a country that differs so markedly from Hawaii and the rest of the United States. The differences -- history, diversity, geopolitical position -- suggest that Japan is rarely a useful model for reform of American practices and policies. Too many differences distinguish us.
But even though Japan is not a good model for reform, it can be a useful mirror. By looking into that mirror and inspecting the reflections cast back at us, we can perceive aspects of ourselves that sometimes elude our awareness.
When I look into the Japanese mirror to see what stands out about Hawaii, this is what I notice: Japan and Hawaii were both riding a wave of prosperity in the late 1980s; then, in 1990 or so, both systems crashed, and neither has recovered. How come?
The most striking parallel between the two places is the fact of sustained one-party rule. The Liberal Democrats have ruled Japan almost uninterrupted since 1955, while in Hawaii the Democrats have governed continuously since the early 1960s.
One result is that both Japan and Hawaii have problems with structural corruption. The main cause is not the poor ethics of a few bad apples, but rather a deeply embedded system of expectations and incentives that rewards bad behavior. The hotbeds of abuse are the same in both places: campaign finance and government contracting of public works.
As architect John Tatom recently told a Honolulu grand jury, when corruption is structural, good behavior, such as resisting high-pressure appeals for campaign contributions, gets punished. And when corruption is structural, it is not enough to preach ethics to the people in power. Incentives have to be altered, something that has not happened here or in Japan.
Similarly, in both Japan and Hawaii some of the most important decisions are made backstage by elders in the ruling party. In Japan, such king-makers are called "shadow shoguns." Their power to anoint candidates and appoint party leaders is vast, and is routinely exercised in ways that lack transparency and accountability, two hallmarks of a healthy democracy.
In both Japan and Hawaii, large segments of the public lament the lack of responsive, responsible leadership. Leadership means many things, of course, but one core quality of a good leader is the gumption to go in front on difficult issues in an effort to pull people in a better direction -- even when it feels uncomfortable.
People in Japan call the 1990s "the lost decade" because the nation wasted 10 years of opportunity to confront a host of issues that sorely needed addressing. Most of the problems, from a moribund economy to grueling commutes to the office, have only grown more difficult to solve. Sound familiar?
In both Japan and Hawaii, the public is increasingly disengaged from politics. Call it what you will -- frustration, distrust, disaffection, apathy -- but people in both places are distressed about their governments, a fact clearly revealed by a variety of evidence, from public opinion polls to voting statistics.
One puzzle is why the Liberal Democrats in Japan and the Democrats in Hawaii keep getting elected when so many people think they are performing badly. Part of the answer lies in the inability of opposition parties to make a credible appeal to disaffected voters.
Japan's opposition parties have been unable to translate citizen frustration into electoral support, and Hawaii's Republican Party has been similarly ineffective for the past 40 years.
But a more fundamental answer to this puzzle lies in an area I'll call culture. Compared to many other cultures, people in Japan and Hawaii tend to avoid the debate, conflict and confrontation that are the preconditions of positive change. There are countless exceptions, of course, but in comparative perspective the most conspicuous pattern is a shared willingness to accept, or at least tolerate, the status quo. One consequence of this conservative penchant is that problems get postponed longer than is healthy.
If, like Japan, our system seems frozen in place, we share the responsibility for not making it move. Directly and indirectly, we put and keep it there.
When it comes to pressing public issues -- education, economy and democracy -- I cannot escape the conclusion that the 1990s were as much a decade of lost opportunities for us as they were for the Japanese.
So here is another reflection from Japan: If we want our problems to worsen, all we need to do is nothing.
David T. Johnson is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Hawaii.