Brian Woodall
Professor
- School of International Affairs
Overview
Brian Woodall joined the faculty of the Sam Nunn School in 1994. He received his PhD in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley, and has held full-time faculty positions at the University of California at Irvine and at Harvard University as well as visiting appointments at the University of Tokyo, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Tohoku University. Dr. Woodall is the author of Growing Democracy in Japan: The Parliamentary Cabinet System Since 1868 (University Press of Kentucky), Japan Under Construction: Corruption, Politics, and Public Works (University of California Press), and Japan's Changing World Role (Japan Society), and co-editor of Elections in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan Under the Single Non-Transferable Vote (University Michigan Press). In addition, he has authored numerous articles and book chapters, served as Chair of the Southern Japan Seminar, and serves on the editorial boards of Routledge Studies on Comparative Asian Politics and several academic journals. He served for many years on the Board of Corporate Advisors to the Who's Who in Asian American Communities Foundation. He has been interviewed on CNN, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, the Asahi Shimbun, and other media outlets. His current research focuses on issues of sustainable development, including: 1) energy and environmental policies; and 2) the role of institutions in shaping transportation investment, equity, and regional proposerity. Dr. Woodall has received funding support from the Fulbright Commission (U.S. Japan Educational Commission), Coca-Cola Foundation, U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission, the Abe Fellowship Program of the Social Science Research Council, the University of California Pacific Rim Research Program, and the Japan Foundation. His teaching includes graduate and undergraduate courses in comparative politics, East Asia, Japanese politics and political economy, and U.S.-Japan relations.
- Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley (Political Science)
Distinctions:
- Fulbright Scholar (Japan)
- Abe Fellowship (Social Science Research Council)
- Japan Foundation Dissertation Fellow
- Chancellor's Dissertation Fellow (UC-Berkeley)
- Bennett Prize in Political Science (University of Utah)
Interests
- Clean Energy
- Climate Change Adaptation
- Energy Efficiency
- Energy, Climate and Environmental Policy
- Global Energy Security
- Institutional Analysis
- Regional Security Challenges
- Transportation
Focuses:
- Asia (East)
- Energy
- Environment
- International Development
- Regional Development
- Infrastructure
- Institution-Building
- Sustainability
- Transportation
Courses
- INTA-2001: Careers In Intl Affairs
- INTA-2050: Intro to Global Develpmt
- INTA-2230: Govt & Politics of Asia
- INTA-2698: Research Assistantship
- INTA-3040: Energy Environ Policy
- INTA-3203: Comparative Politics
- INTA-3231: Gov't & Politics-Japan
- INTA-3232: Sustainable Megaregion
- INTA-4040: Environmental Politics
- INTA-4744: Global Develop Capstone
- INTA-6202: Comparative Politics
- INTA-8001: Sci,Tech&Intl Affairs II
- INTA-8010: IAST Ph.D. Proseminar
- INTA-8813: Special Topics
- INTA-8823: Special Topics
- INTA-8833: Special Topics
All Publications
Books
- Growing Democracy in Japan: The Parliamentary Cabinet System Since 1868
Date: 2014
Woodall, Brian, Growing Democracy in Japan: The Parliamentary Cabinet System Since 1868. Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky, 2014.
- Growing Democracy in Japan: The Parliamentary Cabinet System Since 1868
Date: 2014
The world's third largest economy and a stable democracy, Japan remains a significant world power; but its economy has become stagnant, and its responses to the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011 and the nuclear crisis that followed have raised international concerns. Despite being constitutionally modeled on Great Britain's "Westminster"-style parliamentary democracy, Japan has failed to fully institute a cabinet-style government, and its executive branch is not empowered to successfully respond to the myriad challenges confronted by an advanced postindustrial society. In Growing Democracy in Japan, Brian Woodall compares the Japanese cabinet system to its counterparts in other capitalist parliamentary democracies, particularly in Great Britain. Woodall demonstrates how the nation's long history of dominant bureaucracies has led to weakness at the top levels of government, while mid-level officials exercise much greater power than in the British system. The post--1947 cabinet system, begun under the Allied occupation, was fashioned from imposed and indigenous institutions which coexisted uneasily. Woodall explains how an activist economic bureaucracy, self-governing "policy tribes" (zoku) composed of members of parliament, and the uncertainties of coalition governments have prevented the cabinet from assuming its prescribed role as primary executive body. Woodall's meticulous examination of the Japanese case offers lessons for reformers as well as for those working to establish democratic institutions in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, China, and the new regimes born during the Arab Spring. At the very least, he argues, Japan's struggles with this fundamental component of parliamentary governance should serve as a cautionary tale for those who believe that growing democracy is easy. - Elections and Campaigning in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan
Date: 1999
Woodall, Brian, Grofman, Bernard, Lee, Sung-Chull, and Winckler, Edwin (Eds.), Elections and Campaigning in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press (1999)
- Elections and Campaigning in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan
Date: 1999
- Japan Under Construction: Corruption, Politics, and Public Works
Date: 1996
- Japan Under Construction: Corruption, Politics, and Public Works
Date: 1996
Woodall, Brian, Japan Under Construction: Corruption, Politics, and Public Works. Berkeley: University of California Press (1996).
- Japan's Changing World Role: Emerging Leader or Perpetual Follower?
Date: 1993
Journal Articles
- The Development of China's Developmental State:Environmental Challenges and Stages of Growth
Date: May 2014
"The Development of China's Developmental State: Environmental Challenges and Stages of Growth," China Currents, vol. 13 (no. 1), May 2014
- Japanese Political Finance and Its Dark Side
Date: 2014
- Japan's New Basic Energy Plan
Date: June 2011
“Japan's New Basic Energy Plan,” Energy Policy 39, pp. 3741–3749, June 2011 - Japan's new basic energy plan
In: ENERGY POLICY
Date: June 2011
- Japan's Failure in Pharmaceuticals: The Toxic Effects of Price Controls
In: Japan Studies Review [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1999
- Kokumin no rieki o daihyo shienai 'burando seijika' [Democracy in America and Japan: Voter Apathy and Brand-name Politicians]
In: Kensetsu Gyokai
Date: 1999
- Dou chigau? Nichibei seijika: seiji-teki eikyouryoku to koukyou jigyou [Public Works and Political Influence in the United States and Japan]
In: Kensetsu Gyokai
Date: 1998
- Kisei kanaron no ni-mensei [The Logic of Regulated Deregulation]
In: Kensetsu Gyokai
Date: July 1997
- Japanese Drugs and the Unholy Trivumvirate
In: Osaka Hoken-i Zasshi
Date: June 1997
- Career Concerns and Reform in Japan's Lower House Electoral System
In: Japan Studies Review [Peer Reviewed]
Date: May 1997
- Korekara no nichibei kankei [US-Japan Relations in the Wake of the Elections]
In: Kensetsu Gyokai
Date: 1997
- Atoranta gorin to shakai shihon seibi [Technical Standards and the Atlanta Olympics]
In: Kensetsu Gyokai
Date: July 1996
- Seiji kaikaku wa sanryu seiji o shuen saseru ka [Political Reform and the End of Japan's Third-Rate Politics?]
In: Kensetsu Gyokai
Date: 1996
- Cho endaka jidai nokirinukesaku [Coping in the Era of the Ultra-Strong Yen]
In: Kensetsu Gyokai
Date: July 1995
- US-Japan Trade and the Ultra-Strong Yen
In: Yutori
Date: May 1995
- Amerika no 'nyu sausu' kara mita nihon [A view of Japan from America's 'New South']
In: Kensetsu Gyokai
Date: March 1995
- A Call for Wisdom in Trade Negotiations: Exploring the Efficacy of 'Super 301' in US-Japan Economic Relations
In: The Economic Review
Date: 1995
- Nihon no seiji ni taisuru gaiatsu koka [Foreign Pressure and Japanese Politics: Lessons from US-Japan Construction Friction]
In: Kensetsu Gyokai
Date: July 1994
- Seiji kaikakugeki no yukue [Japan's Political Reform Drama]
In: Kensetsu Gyokai
Date: 1994
- The Logic of Collusive Action: The Political Roots of Japan's Dango System
In: Comparative Politics [Peer Reviewed]
Date: April 1993
- A Mercantilist Triangle? Japanese Aid, Investment, and Trade in Asia
In: Inside Japan: Harvard's Japan Journal
Date: 1992
- The Venture Boom and Japanese Industrial Policy: Promoting the Neglected Winners
In: Asian Survey [Peer Reviewed]
Date: June 1985
- Response to the Japanese Challenge
In: Asia Pacific Community
Date: 1985
- Japan’s Failure in Pharmaceuticals: The Toxic Effects of
Price Controls"
In: Japan Studies Review
Chapters
- Ghosts of the Developmental Dictators: The Nuclear Card and ROK-US Relations
Date: December 2015
Book chapter in "Beyond Acrimony: The Future of ROK-US Nuclear Cooperation." - The Development of Japan's Developmental State: Stages of Growth and the Social Costs of Energy and Export Promotion Policies
Date: December 2014
Woodall, Brian. "The Development of Japan's Developmental State: Stages of Growth and the Social Costs of Energy and Export Promotion Policies," book chapter in East Asian Development Model: 21st Century Perspectives (Shiping Hua and Ruihua Hu, Editors). London: Routledge, 2014. Pp. 101-120.
- “Japanese Political Finance and Its Dark Side"
Date: 2014
- Japan: Energy Efficiency Paragon, Green Growth Laggard
Date: December 2013
book chapter in Religion to Reality: Energy Systems Transformation for Sustainable Prosperity - Japan: Energy Efficiency Paragon, Green Growth Laggard
Date: 2013
- Introduction
Date: February 2002
- Introduction
Date: February 2002
- The Politics of Reform in Japan's Lower House Electoral System
Date: 1999
- The Politics of Reform in Japan's Lower House Electoral System
Date: 1999
- Political Feasibility and Empirical Assessments of a Pacific Free Trade Area
Date: 1998
- Japan's Double Standards: Technical Standards and US-Japan Economic Relations
Date: 1996
- The Politics of Land in Japan's Dual Political Economy
- The Unshakable Money Base of Japanese Politics: Parties, Candidates, Donors and Corruption
Conferences
- America's Economic Policies in Asia
Working Papers
- Japan's Failure in Pharmaceuticals: Why is the World Saying 'No' to Japanese Drugs?
Date: 1997
- Political Feasibility and Empirical Assessments of a Pacific Free Trade Area
Date: 1996
- Japan's Double Standards: Technical Standards and US-Japan Economic Relations?
Date: 1995
- Inside Japan's Leviathan: Decision-Making in the Government Bureaucracy
Date: July 1988
Interviews
- Interviewed on CNN International concerning the Sino-Japanese territorial conflict over the
Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands,
Date: September 2012
Interviewed on CNN International concerning the Sino-Japanese territorial conflict over the Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands,
Thesis / Dissertations
- Japan's Textbook Revision Controversy: An Attempt at Interpretation
- Pork Barrel Politics in Japan: Trade Friction, Public Works, and the Triadic Syndicate, 1955-1988
Other Publications
- Dango (Price-fixing)
In: Encyclopedia of Japanese Business and Management
Date: 2000
- Ministry of Construction
In: Encyclopedia of Japanes Business and Management
Date: 2000
- Yanda nihon keizai no chiryo ho [A Remedy for Japan's Ailing Economy]
In: Kensetsu Gyokai
Date: 1998