Nation Building and Political Struggles

1
Nation Building andPolitical Struggles
Who can participate? Who belongs?
2
Building New Institutions

• Rationalized bureaucracy

3
Building new institutions

• Rationalized
• bureaucracy

• Conscript
• army

4
Building new institutions

• Rationalized
• bureaucracy
• Conscript army
• Mass schooling

5
Nation Building andPolitical Struggles
Who can participate? Who belongs?
6
Tokugawa Political Legacy 1 Authoritarian,
Elitist
7
Tokugawa Political Legacy 2 Inclusive,
Assertive, Pragmatic

• Rangaku
• Dutch learning

• Rural study groups

• Daimyo opinion

8
Tokugawa Political Legacy 2 Inclusive,
Assertive, Pragmatic

• Rangaku
• Dutch learning

• Rural study groups

• Daimyo opinion

9
The Government Dilemma

• Building rich nation, strong army (fukoku
  kyoohei) ????
• Nation building projects
• Need to mobilize/integrate populace
• Yet, not lose control
• Delicate balance of cooptation and coercion

10
Charter Oath of 1868

• 1. Deliberative assemblies shall be widely
  established and all matters decided by public
  discussion.
• 2. All classes, high and low, shall unite in
  vigorously carrying out the administration of
  affairs of state. or simply high and low
  (??)
• 3. The common people, no less than the civil and
  military officials, shall each be allowed to
  pursue their own calling so that there may be no
  discontent.
• 4. Evil customs of the past shall be broken off
  and everything based upon the just laws of
  Nature.
• 5. Knowledge shall be sought throughout the
  world so as to strengthen the foundations of
  imperial rule.

11
Meiji era activism Movement for Freedom and
Peoples Rights
Voices from below
12
Meiji era activism Movement for Freedom and
Peoples Rights
Voices from below
13
Documentary evidence The Way of the King
Royal Perfection ? Kokyoku ? ?? Peoples
Perfection-gt Minkyoku-gt ?? Capricious ?
Mukyoku ? ?? Principled ? Yukyoku ?
??
14
Movement for Freedom and Peoples Rights
15
Meiji era political agitation, activism
16
The Government Program Coerce and Co-opt with
the Constitution
Ito Hirobumi
17
Promul-gation of the consti-tution,1889
18
Documentary evidence The Meiji Constitution
CHAPTER 1. THE EMPEROR   Article 1. The
Empire of Japan shall be reigned over and
governed by a line of Emperors unbroken for
ages eternal.   Article 2. The Imperial Throne
shall be succeeded to by Imperial male
descendants, according to the provisions of the
Imperial House Law.   Article 3. The Emperor is
sacred and inviolable.   Article 4. The Emperor
is the head of the Empire, combining in Himself
the rights of sovereignty, and exercises them,
according to the provisions of the present
Constitution.   Article 5. The Emperor'
exercises the legislative power with the consent
of the Imperial Diet.
19
The Meiji Constitution

• Also crucial are
• Article 11, supreme command
• Chapter 2, on rights of people
• Article 37, on Diet
• Article 55, on Bureaucracy
• Articles 64, 71, on Finance and Budget

20
Interpretative Issue
Or Progressive and flexible achievement