Book Reviews : Theory, Law and Policy of Contemporary Japanese Treaties. By L. JEROLD ADAMS. (New York: Oceana Publications, Inc. 1974. Pp. 270. $15.00.)

• Author: Yasumasa Kuroda
• Published date: 01 December 1974
• Date: 01 December 1974
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591297402700432
• Subject Matter: Articles

764

pattern

whereby

living

in

cities

is

associated

with

high

levels

of

awareness

of

national

politics,

but

this

awareness

is

due

more

to

the

compounding

effects

of

higher

levels

of

education

in

the

cities

than

to

urban

residence.

And

though

urban

residents

are

more

politically

aware,

they

are

also

more

pessimistic

in

their

evalua-

tions

of

political

life.

Rural

residents

are

more

parochial

in

their

attitudes,

but

they

are

also

more

optimistic

about

politics,

more

psychologically

involved,

more

willing

to

act

in

local

political

affairs,

and

more

instrumental

in

their

political

attitudes

than

are

urban

residents.

These

findings,

Richardson

rightly

argues,

suggest

some

important

modifications

to

the

expectations

of

modernization

theorists.

Given

the

subject

political

culture

of

prewar

Japan

and

the

attempt

to

trans-

form

it

in

the

postwar

years,

the

author

aptly

tests

for

the

effects

of

historical

generations

versus

the

effects

of

the

life-cycle

on

political

attitudes.

The

impact

of

prewar

socialization

seems

persistent

among

older

voters,

who

view

the

vote

as

an

obligation

rather

than

a

right

and

who

manifest

low

levels

of

political

involve-

ment

and

efficacy

and

high

levels

of

political

passivism.

Middle

age

and

youthful

voters,

however,

exposed

to

the

democratization

of

the

postwar

period

during

formative

years

in

their

lives,

are

more

psychologically

involved

in

politics

and

more

oriented

toward

participation.

In

his

concluding

chapter,

Richardson

sums

up

the

central

themes

of

Japan’s

political

culture

as

those

of

f ormalism

(orientation

towards

abstract

involvement

but

not

active

participation) ,

ambivalence

(high

political

efficacy

but

low

political

optimism

and

satisfaction

Localism

(more

involvement,

comprehension,

efficacy,

and

optimism

toward

local

than

national

affairs),

and

personalism

(importance

of

personal

connections

and

a

candidate’s

qualities

in

voter

mobilization).

He

then

perceptively

relates

these

attribute

of

Japan’s

contemporary

political

culture

to

her

historical

experience

with

democratization.

Richardson’s

analysis

has

its

flaws.

His

dependence

on

the

Fair

Election

League’s

surveys,

while

providing

excellent

and

massive

data

on

many

attitudes,

nonetheless

tends

to

limit

the

scope

of

his

political

culture

approach

to

attitudes

associated

with

electoral

politics,

and

gives

shorter

shrift

to

other

important

ele-

ments

such

as

beliefs

related

to

ideology,

the

nature

of

authority,

and

national

identity,

or

the

norms

underlying

organizational

behavior.

The

flaws,

however,

are

minor

and

few

in

this

otherwise

excellent

work.

The

book

represents

the

best

col-

lection

and

reporting

of

reliable

survey

results

to

date

on

Japan’s

political

culture.

Western

Washington

State

College

ELLIS

S.

KRAUSS

Theory,

Law

and

Policy

of

Contemporary

Japanese

Treaties.

By

L.

JEROLD

ADAMS.

(New

York:

Oceana

Publications,

Inc.

1974.

Pp.

270.

$15.00.)

This

represents

the

first

comprehensive

work

of

Japanese

treaties

concluded

between

1951

and

1970.

The

author

goes

beyond

description

of

documents

in

order

to

analyze

theory,

law,

and

policy

of

the

treaty-making

process

in

Japan.

Furthermore,

unlike

similar

historical

studies,

the

author

presents

quantitative