Author Description

While the economic interdependence of the world's industrial democracies permits relatively little variation in their market and monetary policies, the welfare policies of the individual members of the "Group of Seven" differ dramatically. The strength of private-sector interests in the United States continues to prevail over calls for the expansion of social welfare programs; whereas, in Europe, governments at times respond directly to organized groups demanding changes in welfare benefits and generally respond to public support for a "welfare state." But without strong vested interests and social welfare movements, without organized labor-backed (social-democrat) parties, without a political commitment to a welfare state, how is it that Japan still supports substantial welfare policies? In this book, Stephen J. Anderson argues that, unlike what has occurred in Western democracies, distinctive and opposing coalitions of interest groups have formed to support welfare policies in Japan. Anderson explores societal interests that abandon universal social ideals for specific nonuniversal guarantees. Testing various approaches to social policy, this study examines the emergence of Japan's institutional context and shows how the structure and development of Japan's particular political coalitions explain the growth of substantial welfare policies. The approach to the research is not only oriented toward Japan, but seeks to answer the broader question of why any state formulates and carries out social welfare policies.