An Analysis of Group Lobbying in Japan and Korea

Mikitaka Masuyama, Seikei University, Dept. Law

Prepared for delivery at the 2003 World Congress of the International Political Science Association, Durban, South Africa, June 29 - July 4, 2003.

Abstract

During the course of this paper, I will attempt to compare the nature of group lobbying between Japan and Korea by analyzing the Japan Interest Group Study survey. The panel analyses I have conducted with respect to group lobbying, indicate that the degree to which interest groups in Japan and Korea lobby political parties is determined significantly by the group's association with political parties. This is independent of the group's need to exercise influence over administrative agencies. In particular, the degree to which a group supports a political party is by far the strongest factor affecting the degree to which the group attempts to appeal to the party. The analyses also show that in Japan groups tend to appeal to both political parties and administrative agencies at the local level, and to the Liberal Democratic Party at the national level. In Korea groups strengthened their tendency to appeal to political parties during the 1990s. In contrast, there has been no significant trend in Japan, independent of changes in the group's association with political parties and the group's need to exercise influence over administrative agencies. Nonetheless, the overall level of group lobbying is on the wane in Japan.