作者简介

Richard A. Colignon is Professor in the Department of Sociology and The Center for Social and Public Policy, Duquesne University. He is the author of Power Plays: Critical Events in the Institutionalization of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Chikako Usui is Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Graduate Program in Gerontology, and Center for International Studies, University of Missouri-St. Louis.

内容简介

The widespread migration of civil servants to high-profile positions in the private and public sectors is known in Japan as amakudari, or "descent from heaven." Recent media stories associate the practice with corruption as the former officials seek government favors for their new employers. In their timely book, Richard A. Colignon and Chikako Usui offer the first systematic exploration of this influential yet poorly understood Japanese institution.

Colignon and Usui analyze amakudari as a ministry-level phenomenon that is consciously constructed and reproduced with intricate networks in many political and corporate spheres. Drawing on five decades of qualitative and quantitative data delineating the post-retirement careers of leading bureaucrats, they examine changes in traditional job patterns. Although not as strong a force as in the 1960s and 1970s, amakudari, in their view, remains a critical feature of Japanese society and heavily shapes the relationship between government and business.

The authors warn that despite the Japanese media criticism of amakudari, it comprises a power structure resistant to radical change. Most important, their book demonstrates that a gradual weakening of this practice may not lead to a more democratic, meritocratic society.


Richard A. Colignon is Professor in the Department of Sociology and The Center for Social and Public Policy, Duquesne University. He is the author of Power Plays: Critical Events in the Institutionalization of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Chikako Usui is Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Graduate Program in Gerontology, and Center for International Studies, Unive...

下载地址

豆瓣评论

  • follett
    与过去将下凡,贬的一钱不值的各种研究相比, 本书还是有重大意义的。我最喜欢的就是他们对于amakudari在经济发展中的role的解释, 很有意思。 另外, 倒数第二章有关amakudari在政界的发展,其实可以继续引申为为何到了80年代, 官厅出身的大臣/议员受到了严重的挑战,逐渐演化为世袭/前官厅/地方议员的三足鼎立。 再则,T.J Pemple 的推荐语有点高级黑的感觉(。。。)11-19

猜你喜欢

大家都喜欢