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Kobori, Masahiro, Reviewing the Japanese Myth: Free Dissolution of the British Parliament by the Cabinet. Koyo Shobo, 2019.

Japanese (日本語)

国際協力論集

32

123-128

神戸大学大学院国際協力研究科

2024-12-20

The book [Kobori, Masahiro] aims to explore the free exercise of parliamentary dissolution in Japan and Britain. According to leading Japanese constitutional scholars, the Constitution of Japan has features like the British cabinet system, which allows the dissolution of the House of Commons, whenever they want. However, the book argued that the British parliamentary government has been restricted from freely dissolving parliament due to factors such as monarchic influences, customs or suspected unconstitutional situations. In addition, the author criticises authoritative Japanese scholars, who argue that the parliamentary systems of both countries represent an equilibrium between the cabinet and the parliament, even though this belief is rooted in French constitutionalism. Based on an ‘interpretive approach,’ the book revealed the academic fallacies that can sometimes result from universalized variables and theories. This book takes the position that the beliefs of academic scholars, politicians, and others shape political systems contingently, and should not be deductively led. Although the empiricist approach to the British legal or political system has not been shared in Japan, the author could analyze ‘practices’ based on the constitutional genealogies of both countries. Not only does this book review highly evaluate his contribution, but the reviewer also highlights the applicability of the empiricist approach. As the book asserts, an interpretative approach regards various political institutions or events as socially constructed, and not independent of conventions or subjective narratives. The review discusses the logic of intra-party governance in the British Conservative Party as a case study. The result found the Conservative leadership election rule was based on informal and unwritten rules. Moreover, the Conservative Party has seen its leadership rule fluctuate between informal practices and formal rules after each general election defeat. In this meaning, the author who adopted an empiricist approach could provide an insightful guide in British political analysis.

紀要論文