February 6 Professor Tina Burrett: Comparing Japanese and British Prime Minister
In this lecture, Professor Tina Burrett compares the function and agency of the Japanese and British prime minister. As part of her analysis, Professor Burrett addresses the causes of the short tenure of the Japanese prime minister in comparison to his British counterpart. She argues that contributing factors include differences in the electoral system, party politics, media culture, and the bureaucracy between Britain and Japan.
In Britain, since the 1980s, prime ministers have become ‘presidential’, reaching beyond their parties to form a direct relationship with the electorate. In Japan over the same period, few prime ministers have achieved a similar form of direct leadership. In discussing the different types of leadership practiced by Japanese and British prime ministers, Professor Burrett examines why direct leadership is less common in Japan than in Britain. To illustrate her discussion, Professor Burrett focuses her analysis on the leadership of Prime Ministers Shinzo Abe and David Cameron.
Time: February 6th, Thursday, 19pm to 21pm. Doors open at 18:30 pm.
Location: Roppongi Hills Club
Map: http://www.roppongihillsclub.com/visitor/dfw/en/info/access.html
Fee: 5000 yen per person payable at the door. Includes standup buffet dinner. All beverages are extra cost available at cash bar.
Registration: Please register at the web form on the right of this web page. For cancellations or problems in registering please e-mail:veritas@fa.catv-yokohama.ne.jp
Tina Burrett is Assistant Professor of International Relations at Temple University, Japan Campus. From April 2014, she will join the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Sophia University. Professor Burrett’s research interests focus on political leadership, elites, national policy-making networks and democratic renewal and reform. Her first book on presidential power and the national television media in Russia was recently published in paperback. She is currently completing a second book investigating the relationship between leadership and political agency in Britain and Japan.
Professor Burrett also has a keen interest in parliamentary politics and reform and has worked in legislatures in Britain, Canada, Japan and the EU. In Japan, she worked as a legislative assistant for Kono Taro MP, and in Britain for Labour Party Minister Angela Smith (now Baroness Smith of Basildon). Professor Burrett’s op-eds appear regularly in the The Japan Times, The New Internationalist and The New Statesman.
Professor Burrett holds a PhD and MPhil in Political and Social Sciences from Cambridge University.
Professor Burrett’s publications include:
• Presidential Power and Television in Putin's Russia, London: Routledge, 2011 and 2013.
• “Elite Conflict and the Reconstruction of the Russian Television Landscape”, The Post-Soviet Russian Media, Eds. B. Beumers, S. Hutchings & N. Rulyova, London: Routledge, 2008.
• “An Inconvenient Truce: Domestic Politics and the Russo-Japanese Northern Territories Dispute’, Critical Issues in Contemporary Japan, Ed. J. Kingston, London: Routledge, 2013.
Journalistic Publications:
• ‘Labour making a comeback as Cameron falters’, Japan Times (Tokyo), 17 October 2013.
• ‘Constitutional concerns in Japan’, New Internationalist (Oxford), September 2013.
• ‘New talks unlikely to settle Northern Territories dispute’, Japan Times (Tokyo), 6 May 2013.
• ‘U.K. party leaders playing politics with press rules’, Japan Times (Tokyo), 12 December 2012.
• ‘After the Olympics, British parties find patriotism pays’, Japan Times (Tokyo), 19 October 2012.
• ‘Tensions with China reveal Japanese politics to be on the rocks’, New Statesman (London), 16 October 2012.
• ‘Lords reform creating tensions in UK coalition’, Japan Times (Tokyo), 16 May 2012.
• ‘To save UK, England must be more like Scotland’, Japan Times (Tokyo), 29 February 2012.
• ‘Japan must say no to nuclear!’, The New Internationalist (Oxford), October 2011.
• ‘The blame goes beyond a tabloid’, Japan Times (Tokyo), 14 July 2011.
• ‘Britain’s coalition bestows lopsided benefits’, Japan Times (Tokyo), 20 May 2011.
• ‘Britain’s adversity to AV’, Japan Times (Tokyo), 11 May 2011.
• ‘Nuclear debate intensifies post-Fukushima’, The New Internationalist (Oxford), April 2011.
• ‘Okinawans battle to close US bases’, The New Internationalist (Oxford), December 2010.
***Note that cancellations after noon February 3rd and no-shows will be charged the full rate, as we are committing to the RHC on a per-person basis. Your understanding of and compliance with this policy are greatly appreciated!