In 1651, Thomas Hobbes published his most famous work, Leviathan, in which he proposed a model of early human development to justify the creation of government. Hobbes described an ideal state of nature wherein every person had equal right to every resource in nature and was free to use any means to acquire those resources. He claimed that such an arrangement created a “war of all against all” (bellum omnium contra omnes). Further, he noted that men would enter into a social contract and would give up absolute rights for ce ...

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Politics, Politics - A natural state, Politics - Early history, Politics - Definitions, Politics - Political power, Politics - The Normative 'Faces of Power' Debate, Politics - The Postmodern Challenge of Normative Views of Power, Politics - Sociological Views of Power, Politics - Authority and legitimacy, Politics - Traditional, Politics - Charismatic, Politics - Legal-rational

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In social studies, a political ideology is a certain ethical, set of ideals, principles, doctrines, myths or symbols of a social movement, institution, class, or large group that explain how society should work, and offer some political and cultural blueprint for a certain social order. A political ideology largely concerns itself with how to allocate power and to what ends it should be used. It can be a construct of political thought, often defining political parties and their policy. Studies of the concept of ideology itself (rather than specific ideologies) have been c ...

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Ideology, Ideology - Ideology in everyday society, Ideology - History of the concept of ideology, Ideology - The analysis of ideology, Ideology - Ideology as an instrument of social reproduction, Ideology - Louis Althusser's Ideological State Apparatuses, Ideology - Feminism as critique of ideology, Ideology - Political ideologies, Ideology - List of political ideologies, Ideology - Epistemological ideologies

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In common usage, democracy is often understood to be the same as liberal democracy. The minimal characteristics of democracy (listed above) are not generally considered to make a democracy 'liberal'. In practice, the term now denotes a collection of defining criteria, some of which are unrelated to each other. They are sometimes presented as a list of demands, to be fulfilled during a democratisation process. Note that many liberal democracies ...

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Democracy, Democracy - Democratic Government, Democracy - History of democracy, Democracy - 20th century waves of democracy, Democracy - Essential elements of a democracy, Democracy - Four Conceptions of Democracy, Democracy - Political legitimacy and 'democratic culture', Democracy - Direct versus representative democracy or democracy versus republic, Democracy - Liberal democracy, Democracy - Preconditions and structure, Democracy - Liberal freedoms, Democracy - Proportional versus majoritarian representation, Democracy - Social democracy, Democracy - Illiberal democracy, Democracy - Advantages and disadvantages of democracy, Democracy - Ethnic and religious conflicts, Democracy - Bureaucracy, Democracy - Short-term focus, Democracy - Electorate Intelligence, Democracy - Public choice theory, Democracy - Plutocracy, Democracy - Tyranny of the majority, Democracy - Political stability, Democracy - Effective response in wartime, Democracy - Corruption, Democracy - Poverty and famine, Democracy - The democratic peace theory, Democracy - General skepticism of democracy, Democracy - Sources

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Direct democracy was first experimented with in the ancient Athenian democracy of ancient Greece (beginning circa 508 BC (Finley, 1973)), which was governed for two centuries by a general assembly of all male citizens, by randomly selected officials, and ten annually elected representatives charged to command the army of the city (strategos). The restrictive conditions for citizenship in Athenian democracy (only male citizens could participate) and the small size (about 300,000) of the Athens city-state minimized the logistical diffi ...

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Direct democracy, Direct democracy - History, Direct democracy - Electronic direct democracy, Direct democracy - Arguments for direct democracy, Direct democracy - Arguments against direct democracy, Direct democracy - Direct democracy in Switzerland, Direct democracy - Direct democracy in the United States, Direct democracy - Direct democracy in Canada

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True democracy as a form of government always has the following characteristics: there is constrained freedom to further the public good. Stated in negative terms, limits-sometimes vigorous ones-are essential to ensure that not anything goes (e.g., murdering people with handguns). Stated in positive terms, infinite freedom is of the essence to explore within, but not exceed, the boundaries defined by the edge of chaos (e.g., populist revolutions to identify, advocate for, and create consensus around new forms of government that ...

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Democracy, Democracy - Democratic Government, Democracy - History of democracy, Democracy - 20th century waves of democracy, Democracy - Essential elements of a democracy, Democracy - Four Conceptions of Democracy, Democracy - Political legitimacy and 'democratic culture', Democracy - Direct versus representative democracy or democracy versus republic, Democracy - Liberal democracy, Democracy - Preconditions and structure, Democracy - Liberal freedoms, Democracy - Proportional versus majoritarian representation, Democracy - Social democracy, Democracy - Illiberal democracy, Democracy - Advantages and disadvantages of democracy, Democracy - Ethnic and religious conflicts, Democracy - Bureaucracy, Democracy - Short-term focus, Democracy - Electorate Intelligence, Democracy - Public choice theory, Democracy - Plutocracy, Democracy - Tyranny of the majority, Democracy - Political stability, Democracy - Effective response in wartime, Democracy - Corruption, Democracy - Poverty and famine, Democracy - The democratic peace theory, Democracy - General skepticism of democracy, Democracy - Sources

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The term democracy - or more precisely, the original (ancient Greek) version of the word - was coined in ancient Athens in the 5th century BC. Athenian democracy is generally seen as the earliest example of a system corresponding to some of the modern notions of democratic rule. Only a sixth or a quarter of the whole (adult male) population of Athens could vote; but this was a bar of nationality, like the present German franchise, not of economic status: however poor they were, all Athenian citizens ...

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Democracy, Democracy - Democratic Government, Democracy - History of democracy, Democracy - 20th century waves of democracy, Democracy - Essential elements of a democracy, Democracy - Four Conceptions of Democracy, Democracy - Political legitimacy and 'democratic culture', Democracy - Direct versus representative democracy or democracy versus republic, Democracy - Liberal democracy, Democracy - Preconditions and structure, Democracy - Liberal freedoms, Democracy - Proportional versus majoritarian representation, Democracy - Social democracy, Democracy - Illiberal democracy, Democracy - Advantages and disadvantages of democracy, Democracy - Ethnic and religious conflicts, Democracy - Bureaucracy, Democracy - Short-term focus, Democracy - Electorate Intelligence, Democracy - Public choice theory, Democracy - Plutocracy, Democracy - Tyranny of the majority, Democracy - Political stability, Democracy - Effective response in wartime, Democracy - Corruption, Democracy - Poverty and famine, Democracy - The democratic peace theory, Democracy - General skepticism of democracy, Democracy - Sources

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Democracy is often implemented as a form of government in which policy is decided by the preference of the real majority (as opposed to a partial or relative majority of the demos/citizens) in a decision-making process, usually elections or referenda, open to all or most citizens. In recent decades 'democracy' was used as a synonym for (western) liberal-democratic systems in nation-states, but the existence of "illiberal democracies" is now recognised. The qualifier 'liberal' in this context refers strictly speaking to constitutional liberal ...

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Democracy, Democracy - Democratic Government, Democracy - History of democracy, Democracy - 20th century waves of democracy, Democracy - Essential elements of a democracy, Democracy - Four Conceptions of Democracy, Democracy - Political legitimacy and 'democratic culture', Democracy - Direct versus representative democracy or democracy versus republic, Democracy - Liberal democracy, Democracy - Preconditions and structure, Democracy - Liberal freedoms, Democracy - Proportional versus majoritarian representation, Democracy - Social democracy, Democracy - Illiberal democracy, Democracy - Advantages and disadvantages of democracy, Democracy - Ethnic and religious conflicts, Democracy - Bureaucracy, Democracy - Short-term focus, Democracy - Electorate Intelligence, Democracy - Public choice theory, Democracy - Plutocracy, Democracy - Tyranny of the majority, Democracy - Political stability, Democracy - Effective response in wartime, Democracy - Corruption, Democracy - Poverty and famine, Democracy - The democratic peace theory, Democracy - General skepticism of democracy, Democracy - Sources

Read more here: » Democracy: Encyclopedia II - Democracy - Democratic Government

Japan is the most important country to China among the non-superpower developed nations. Among the reasons for this are: geographical proximity, historical and cultural ties. The People's Republic of China's perception of Japan as a possible resurgent threat, because of Japan's close relations with the United States since the end of World War II, and Japan's role as an industrialized economic power in the world. Japan's invasion and occupation of parts of China in the 1930s was a major component of the devastation China underwent duri ...

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Sino-Japanese relations, Sino-Japanese relations - Goals and nature of relations since 1949, Sino-Japanese relations - Unofficial relations and hostility 1950s, Sino-Japanese relations - Trade resumes 1960s, Sino-Japanese relations - Official relations and Friendship treaty 1970s, Sino-Japanese relations - Development of complementary interests 1980s, Sino-Japanese relations - 1990s, Sino-Japanese relations - 2000s, Sino-Japanese relations - Japanese history textbooks controversy, Sino-Japanese relations - China's military expenditure, Sino-Japanese relations - Bibliography

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With the deterioration of the Sino-Soviet relations in the late 1950/early 1960s and the resulting economic crisis, the PRC became more eager to improve its relations with Japan. Thus it resumed its trade with Japan in late 1960. Important provisions were attached to the arrangement, however, stipulating that trade was to be based on formal government-to-government agreements and the private trade was to be sanctioned indirectly by the Japanese government. Only Japanese firms that pledged to support the three political principles of 1958 wer ...

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Sino-Japanese relations, Sino-Japanese relations - Goals and nature of relations since 1949, Sino-Japanese relations - Unofficial relations and hostility 1950s, Sino-Japanese relations - Trade resumes 1960s, Sino-Japanese relations - Official relations and Friendship treaty 1970s, Sino-Japanese relations - Development of complementary interests 1980s, Sino-Japanese relations - 1990s, Sino-Japanese relations - 2000s, Sino-Japanese relations - Japanese history textbooks controversy, Sino-Japanese relations - China's military expenditure, Sino-Japanese relations - Bibliography

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Civics and comparative politics involve the comparison of patterns of political development—including forms of government—and processes of political change in different settings or at different times. In the United States and Canada, it may also include regional studies; that is, work focusing on a particular state, province or region. Political theory involves the study of normative questions of government, ideology, ...

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Political science, Political science - History of political science, Political science - Antecedents of political science, Political science - Political science, Political science - Contemporary political science, Political science - Current fields of study

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Hunt, Michael H. (1996). The Genesis of Chinese Communist Foreign Policy. New York: Columbia University Press. Kawashima, Yutaka. (2003). Japanese Foreign Policy at the Crossroads: Challenges and Options for the Twenty-First Century. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. Barnouin, Barbara and Yu Changgen. (1998) Chinese Foreign Policy During the Cultural Revolution. New York: Columbia University Press. Stegewerns, Dick (Ed.). (2003). Nationalism and Intern ...

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Sino-Japanese relations, Sino-Japanese relations - Goals and nature of relations since 1949, Sino-Japanese relations - Unofficial relations and hostility 1950s, Sino-Japanese relations - Trade resumes 1960s, Sino-Japanese relations - Official relations and Friendship treaty 1970s, Sino-Japanese relations - Development of complementary interests 1980s, Sino-Japanese relations - 1990s, Sino-Japanese relations - 2000s, Sino-Japanese relations - Japanese history textbooks controversy, Sino-Japanese relations - China's military expenditure, Sino-Japanese relations - Bibliography

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Chinese relations with Japan in recent years have been generally close and cordial. Tension erupted periodically, however, over trade and technology issues, Chinese concern over potential Japanese military resurgence, and controversy regarding Japan's relations with Taiwan. In early 2005, Japan and the United States had issued a joint declaration calling for a "peaceful solution" to the Taiwan issue, a declaration which angered the PRC, which protested the interference in "internal affairs." Some have accused China of hypocrisy concerning th ...

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Sino-Japanese relations, Sino-Japanese relations - Goals and nature of relations since 1949, Sino-Japanese relations - Unofficial relations and hostility 1950s, Sino-Japanese relations - Trade resumes 1960s, Sino-Japanese relations - Official relations and Friendship treaty 1970s, Sino-Japanese relations - Development of complementary interests 1980s, Sino-Japanese relations - 1990s, Sino-Japanese relations - 2000s, Sino-Japanese relations - Japanese history textbooks controversy, Sino-Japanese relations - China's military expenditure, Sino-Japanese relations - Bibliography

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The visit to Beijing of Japan's newly elected prime minister, Tanaka Kakuei, culminated in the signing of a historic joint statement (Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China) on September 29, 1972 that ended nearly eighty years of enmity and friction between the two sides, establishing diplomatic relations between the states. In this statement, Tokyo recognized the Beijing government over the Taipei government as the sole legal government of China, stating at the same time that it unde ...

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Sino-Japanese relations, Sino-Japanese relations - Goals and nature of relations since 1949, Sino-Japanese relations - Unofficial relations and hostility 1950s, Sino-Japanese relations - Trade resumes 1960s, Sino-Japanese relations - Official relations and Friendship treaty 1970s, Sino-Japanese relations - Development of complementary interests 1980s, Sino-Japanese relations - 1990s, Sino-Japanese relations - 2000s, Sino-Japanese relations - Japanese history textbooks controversy, Sino-Japanese relations - China's military expenditure, Sino-Japanese relations - Bibliography

Read more here: » Sino-Japanese relations: Encyclopedia II - Sino-Japanese relations - Official relations and Friendship treaty 1970s

Until the late 1980s, North Korea's post-World War II policy toward Japan was mainly aimed at minimizing cooperation between Japan and South Korea, and at deterring Japan's rearmament while striving for closer diplomatic and commercial ties with Japan. Crucial to this policy was the fostering within Japan of support for North Korea, especially among the Japanese who supported the Japanese communist and socialist parties and the Korean residents of Japan. Over the years, however, North Korea did much to discredit itself in the eyes of many po ...

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Japanese-Korean relations, Japanese-Korean relations - Japan, Japanese-Korean relations - South Korea, Japanese-Korean relations - North Korea, Japanese-Korean relations - Reference

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Korea is geographically close, yet emotionally distant from Japan. Given the historical relationship between the two countries, the paradoxical nature of their relation is readily understandable. Since normalizing relations at the urging of the United States in 1965, Seoul and Tokyo have held annual foreign ministerial conferences. The usual issues discussed have been trade, the status of the Korean minority population in Japan, the content of textbooks dealing with the relationship, Tokyo's equidistant policy ...

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Japanese-Korean relations, Japanese-Korean relations - Japan, Japanese-Korean relations - South Korea, Japanese-Korean relations - North Korea, Japanese-Korean relations - Reference

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In political theory, the authority of the government in democracies derives solely from the consent of the governed. The principal mechanism for translating that consent into governmental authority is the holding of free and fair elections. There is a broad consensus as to what kind of elections can be considered free and fair. Jeane Kirkpatrick, scholar and former United States ambassador to the United Nations, has offered this definition: "Democratic elections are not merely symbolic....They are competitive, periodic, inclusive, def ...

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Election, Election - Definitions of democratic elections, Election - Characteristics of elections, Election - Who can vote, Election - Who is voted for, Election - Types of election, Election - Electoral systems, Election - Scheduling, Election - Election campaigns, Election - Difficulties with elections, Election - Show elections, Election - Bias and limited options, Election - Corruption of democracies, Election - Elections around the world

Read more here: » Election: Encyclopedia II - Election - Definitions of democratic elections

Japan is a member of the United Nations (UN), the IMF, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). It also participates in the international organizations focusing on economic development, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. As a member of the IMF and World Bank, for example, Japan played a role in the effort during the 1980s to address the international debt crisis brought on by the inability of certain developing countries to service t ...

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Economic relations of Japan, Economic relations of Japan - Postwar development, Economic relations of Japan - 1960s, Economic relations of Japan - 1970s, Economic relations of Japan - 1980s, Economic relations of Japan - Foreign Investment, Economic relations of Japan - Relations by region, Economic relations of Japan - Asia, Economic relations of Japan - Middle East, Economic relations of Japan - Western Europe, Economic relations of Japan - Latin America, Economic relations of Japan - International Trade and Development Institutions, Economic relations of Japan - Reference

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Japan's international economic relations in the first three decades after World War II were shaped largely by two factors: a relative lack of domestic raw materials and a determination to catch up with the industrial nations of the West. Its exports have consisted almost exclusively of manufactured goods, and raw materials have represented a large share of its imports. The country's sense of dependency and vulnerability has also been strong because of its lack of raw materials. Japan's determination to catch up with the West encouraged polic ...

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Economic relations of Japan, Economic relations of Japan - Postwar development, Economic relations of Japan - 1960s, Economic relations of Japan - 1970s, Economic relations of Japan - 1980s, Economic relations of Japan - Foreign Investment, Economic relations of Japan - Relations by region, Economic relations of Japan - Asia, Economic relations of Japan - Middle East, Economic relations of Japan - Western Europe, Economic relations of Japan - Latin America, Economic relations of Japan - International Trade and Development Institutions, Economic relations of Japan - Reference

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Descriptive representation, sometimes called passive representation or symbolic representation, is the idea that candidates in democratic elections should be elected to represent ethnic and gender constituencies, as well as other minority interest groups, rather than the population at large. According to this idea, an elected body should resemble a representative sample of the voters they are meant to represent concerning outward characteristics - a constituency of 50% women and 20% ...

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Representation politics, Representation politics - Representation by Population, Representation politics - Representation by area, Representation politics - Descriptive representation

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The influence of Japanese domestic politics on the conduct of foreign affairs changed in the mid-1970s. Up to that time, the foreign policy debate in Japan had been between "progressives," who favored advances toward socialist countries and more independence from the United States, and "conservatives," who tended to identify Japanese interests closely with the United States-led alignment of Western countries. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was closely associated with the conservative, pro-United States position, while o ...

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Foreign policy of Japan, Foreign policy of Japan - Postwar period, Foreign policy of Japan - Post-occupation Japan, Foreign policy of Japan - 1970s, Foreign policy of Japan - 1980s, Foreign policy of Japan - 1990s, Foreign policy of Japan - The Role of Domestic Politics, Foreign policy of Japan - Reference

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In public discussions, some ideas seem to arise more commonly than others. Indeed, often completely separate people may be found to think alike in startling ways. For social scientists, one way of explaining such instances of common opinion is the presence of an ideology. Every society has an ideology that forms the basis of the "public opinion" or common sense, a basis that usually remains invisible to most people within the society. This dominant ideology appears as "neutral", holding to assumptions that are largely unchallenged. Me ...

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Ideology, Ideology - Ideology in everyday society, Ideology - History of the concept of ideology, Ideology - The analysis of ideology, Ideology - Ideology as an instrument of social reproduction, Ideology - Louis Althusser's Ideological State Apparatuses, Ideology - Feminism as critique of ideology, Ideology - Political ideologies, Ideology - List of political ideologies, Ideology - Epistemological ideologies

Read more here: » Ideology: Encyclopedia II - Ideology - Ideology in everyday society

The 1952 Mutual Security Assistance Pact provided the initial basis for the nation's security relations with the United States. The pact was replaced in 1960 by the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, which declares that both nations will maintain and develop their capacities to resist armed attack in common and that each recognizes that an armed attack on either one in territories administered by Japan will be considered dangerous to the safety of the other. The Agreed Minutes to the treaty specified that the Japanese government must ...

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Japan-United States relations, Japan-United States relations - Early historical relations, Japan-United States relations - Precedents, Japan-United States relations - First Visit 1852-1853, Japan-United States relations - Second Visit 1854, Japan-United States relations - First Japanese embassy to the US 1860, Japan-United States relations - Political relations, Japan-United States relations - Post-war occupation period, Japan-United States relations - 1950s: After the occupation, Japan-United States relations - 1960s: Military Alliance and return of territories, Japan-United States relations - 1970s: Indochina War and Middle-East crisis, Japan-United States relations - 1980s: Rise of the falcons, Japan-United States relations - 1990s: After the cold war, Japan-United States relations - New Millennium: A stronger alliance, Japan-United States relations - Economic relations, Japan-United States relations - Trade volume, Japan-United States relations - Trade frictions, Japan-United St