European Governance After the Brexit and the COVID-19 Shocks: A New Phase of Solidarity and Integration in the EU from the Japanese Perspective
Koji Fukuda
Brexit and After: Perspectives on European Crises and Reconstruction from Asia and Europe (English Edition) Springer, 2020
135
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147
2020.12
[Refereed]
[Invited]
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
19
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4
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2134
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2134
2022.02
[Refereed]
Authorship:Last author
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This study aims to identify the social and psychological burdens placed on educators during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan and to propose an optimal form of support. We investigated educators’ perceptions of psychological and socioeconomic anxieties and burdens, sense of coherence, and social capital using a questionnaire survey of 1000 educators in January 2021. Multivariate regression analyses were conducted to analyze the associations between the variables. Results: Approximately 80% of the respondents considered COVID-19 a formidable, life-threatening illness. Our results revealed that the higher the social capital, the greater the fear of COVID-19, and the higher the sense of coherence, the lower this fear. Conclusions: The anxiety burden of implementing infection prevention was higher than the anxiety burden associated with distance learning. The predictive factors for educators’ perceptions of burden included sense of coherence, gender, and age. Our findings suggest the importance of having the government and educational institutions provide multidimensional assistance that matches educators’ individual characteristics.
Comparative analysis on Growth and Innovation Policy processes in the EU and Japan
Project Year :
2015.04
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2018.03
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Globalization, innovation and demographic change significantly affect employment, the labor environment, social security, and other social systems. The response to globalization and the Europeanization of liberalism have produced anti-immigrant, anti-refugee sentiment,and some socially and economically marginalized people sympathized with views of far-right parties, and supported xenophobic nationalism and populism. In order to achieve sustainable economic growth and innovations build democratic and stable social order, people around the world should fill the gap between awareness and reality, disperse risk through global social solidarity and select a path toward securing shared benefits. As social security weakens, growth and innovations can not be expected to increase, growth will further decline. Therefore, we emphasized the importance of scientific and social innovation in Europe and Japan
Growth, Crisis, Democracy: The Political Economy of Social Coalitions and Policy Regime Change
Project Year :
2013.04
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2017.03
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Since the advent of the Great Recession, the notion of policy regime has gained new significance in analyzing the possibilities for a post-neoliberal paradigmatic alternative. Policy innovations directed toward an economic breakthrough require both political leadership and a new economic theory. Recognizing the need to analyze fluid and unstable situations, we have set up a new research design in which we emphasize political variables; whether political leaders and citizens can overcome the various weaknesses inherent in democracy and escape from an economic crisis by establishing an effective social coalition. This project has examined various institutional and strategic aspects of capitalist democracy to construct a general and dynamic analytical framework
the EU Governance and the comparative study on subsidiarity of the security culture
Project Year :
2013.04
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2016.03
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We could successfully make clear the security and strategic cultures of EU member countries for three years.I will edit a book titled "Convergence and Transformation of Security and Strategic Cultures" in 2016.We are programming to finalize our project through organizing a symposium on this topic in Autumn of 2016
growth, employment and Social Protection Governance in the EU and Japan
Project Year :
2012.04
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2015.03
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As a result of the global financial crisis, the EU and its Member States have been forced to consider the long-term sustainability of their social security systems as well as Japan. Even when economies grow, the trickle-down effect postulated by neoliberals is somewhat minimal and the benefits of growth do not necessarily reach all parts of society. Rather, it has been recognized that economic growth can increase the gap between the rich and the poor and even raise poverty levels in a country. Inequality in the distribution of wealth and income has worsened in conjunction with neoliberal globalization not only in Japan but also worldwide. Employment insecurity has grown and social stability is vanishing
Economic Crises and Policy Regimes: The Dynamics of Policy Innovation and Paradigmatic Change
Project Year :
2010.05
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2014.03
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For more than two decades, citizens in developed countries have witnessed massive job losses, lowered wages, slow economic growth and widening inequality under a neoliberal policy regime that has placed heavy constraints on policy choices. The project has explored, both theoretically and empirically, the possibility of transition to a new political economic paradigm by seeking feasible answers to questions such as: why has such a regime persisted for a long period of time despite its pool policy performance?; is it possible for democracy to overcome economic crisis through its electoral mechanisms?; and, under what conditions can each government convert crisis of its economy into growth? The project brought together an international expert team to explore both the possibilities and difficulties of transitioning from a neoliberal policy regime to an alternative regime through drastic policy innovations
By inviting three leading political scientists from the US and Europe, the project started as an international study group focusing on the notion of democratic accountability, one of the most fashionable themes in today's political studies. The project organized three international conferences at Waseda University. The final outcomes of all the project members are collected in Hideko Magara, eds., Democracy and Accountability, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B), March 2007, which includes the following papers :P.Schmitter "Political Accountability in Real-Existing Democracies : Meaning and Mechanisms"S.Chiba "Democratic Accountability of the Late Modern State : Legitimacy Crisis and War Responsibility"T.J.Pempel "Regionalizing the Developmental State : Political and Economic-Accountability in Northeast Asia"T.Oshimura, "Globalization and Fragmented Accountability in Japan : The Early 1990s to the Koizumi Administration"K.Fukuda "Accountability on the Food Safety Policy in the European Union and Japan"M.Golden "Some Puzzles of Political Corruption in Modern Advanced Democracies"M.Ido "Big Bang and the Production Regime : Historical Origin of Unaccountable Corporate Governance in Italy and JapanH.Magara "Economic Growth and Democratic Accountability : Coordinated Market Economies, Party Polarization in OECD Countries
Accountability and Legitimacy, the Governance of Food Safety Policy in the EU.
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This project is an attempt to summarize and analyze the EU's and Japan's experiences in food safety policy and to address broader issues that are concerned with "accountability and legitimacy". One good example of this was the BSE crisis which was particularly wide spread and had a more serious impact in OECD countries which had "bad governance" of food safety.How would the accountability, responsibility and legitimacy in the accountability process be guaranteed and how would it affect the governance of food safety in the EU and Japan? Legitimacy is widely accepted as requiring some multilateral authorization, preferably from these international institutions. A mixed system of accountability has begun to develop, including procedures and policies at both international and national levels. In order to safeguard human health and enhance consumer protection in the international and domestic public policy process covering the entire food product chain "from farm to table" accountability and traceability must be strengthened in food safety policy areas In conclusion, although it is not possible nor is it advisable to translate the European model directly into a model for Japan or other parts of the world. But there are certainly lessons to learn from Europe, we should emphasize that it is indispensable to any proper governance of food safety policy
International comparison of Policy Evaluation Systems
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Policy evaluation has already proved effective at eradicating bid rigging and political corruption and has helped to restore trust in the EU both among the Nation States' representative organs 'and the citizens themselves. Consequently the European Council's Laeken Declaration, 15 December 2001, stressed the need for the EU to create a Constitution as a way of achieving greater accountability and legitimacy. The policy evaluation element of NPM is considered to be another important method of enhancing democratization and efficiency in the policy-making processes of the EU. The specific objectives of these papers are as follows :Firstly, we looked at European governance reforms which have been introduced in the light of NPM thinking. Secondly, we examined the history of the concept of Policy Evaluation and consider its definitions with regard to NPM reforms in the European Union. Thirdly, we have considered what kind of role is expected of policy evaluations in the EU, and the repercussions for accountability lines and links. We will analyze and summarize the EU's experiences of administrative reforms with regard to NPM and address the broader issues concerned with accountability, agencies and public management
Economic Crisis and the EU Sustainable Development Strategy for an Aging Society.
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The aging of the population in the EU and member states has progressed since 2000, and pension reform has become an issue of the greatest importance that must be faced. There has also been a ripple effect on European countries from the debt crisis sparked by the Greek crisis, and this has further heightened concerns about the euro while exacerbating the problem of the aging society. The purpose of this study is to explore the background to the formation of these kinds of pension policy regimes at the EU level, to explore the reasons why similar pension reforms and pension policies emerged in the various EU countries in terms of the connection of those reasons with the global economic crisis, and to clarify their future directions and issues. A strategy for the aging EU society was declared from this perspective for(1) the improvement of employability,(2) the promotion of entrepreneurship,(3) improvement of labor and management adaptability for the purpose of structural reform, and(4) the promotion of equal opportunities for men and women. Welfare policy regimes and, particularly, pension policy regimes with a degree of similarity that goes beyond the boundaries of political parties and factions have emerged in the European countries since the economic crisis. The European Council of March 2010 agreed upon Europe 2020, the new medium-term economic growth strategy that is the next generation of EU strategy after the Lisbon strategy. This is intended to bring about the EU's escape from the effects of economic and financial crisis in the short term while also achieving sustained economic growth over the coming decade. A single financial policy is being pursued in the euro economic zone, but fiscal policy is being carried out by each country. The importance of fiscal policy coordination in the Eurozone, where mutual economic interdependence is advanced because of the present global economic and financial crisis, has also been cast in sharp relief by the discussion of pension reform. In order to assure the sustainability of pensions, it is necessary first to make sure of the stability of the financial system, after which a crisis response exit strategy, business recovery, and economic growth are essential. Restoration of fiscal soundness cannot be achieved just by raising taxes or cutting expenditures uniformly across the board. It is necessary to consider giving higher priority to spending on education, R & D, and other such sectors that contribute to continuous economic growth. There can be no doubt that fiscal soundness must be achieved for each member state, without which adequate and fiscally sustainable, stable pension systems cannot be established