Discover a democracy that, despite its imperfections and an ongoing crisis of representation, knows how to ask itself the hard questions and implement change: Japan. Is there a lesson here for France?

Was Japanese democracy born in 1945? Is it the fruit of a grafting performed by the Americans? No doubt, at least in part. But this work attempts to unpack such received ideas to show that while democracy did not take root in Japan until 1947, this is not because Japan lacked experience in political debate and the electoral game. As this well-researched work shows, the hybrid model the Americans instituted in 1947—a blend of British and American characteristics—se présidentialise. Il s’agit, enfin, It is a political system that, despite its imperfections and an ongoing crisis of representation, knows how to ask itself the hard questions and implement change: is there a lesson to be learned here for France?