Authority with Power

Haley on Japan's Law and Politics

Bibliographic Data

ID4902382
AuthorsDavid T Johnson (0000-0002-5985-337X, corresponding author)
Year1993
Volume27
Issue3
Pages619-638
Publication date1993-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLaw & Society Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0023-9216 • E-ISSN: 1540-5893
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/3054108
OpenAlexW1032660479
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited20

uthority without Power is a significant book which is also significantly wrong. In it,John Haley aims useJapan as a window to law and law as a window to (p. 4). He argues that by considering Japan we can learn much about the concept, functions, and significance of law that other scholars have either missed or misconstrued, and that by considering Japanese law we can make sense of numerous paradoxes in Japanese society. But while Haley provides many insights into bothJapan andJapanese law, he also exaggerates their distinctiveness, for when viewed in a more explicitly comparative perspective Japanese law and politics are neither as authoritative nor as powerless as Haley asserts. Similarly,Japanese society is far less paradoxical than Haley and many other commentators presume. In this essay I first summarize the main lines of Haley's argument and then discuss its theoretical, empirical, and comparative weaknesses

Argument (complex analysis · Law and economics · Optimal distinctiveness theory · Political science · Power (physics · Sociology · Conflict of Laws and Jurisdiction · Law · Law in Society and Culture · Legal principles and applications · Psychology · Social Psychology

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