Praise for the first edition:'Rather than taking a standard public administration approach to local government, Hijino focuses on the relationship between local and national parties and politicians. This approach generates many new insights and exciting new research agendas. It also makes the study of local government much more relevant to the study of Japanese politics and should thus be of interest to a very wide audience.' - Steven R. Reed, Professor in the Faculty of Policy Studies, Chuo University. Author of Japanese prefectures and policymaking; "Structure and behaviour: Extending Duverger's Law to the Japanese case"; and editor/co-author Japan Decides 2014: The Japanese General Election.'This book is a masterpiece of Japanese local and multi-level politics in English. Hijino not only shows how intensely integrated intergovernmental relations have been dismantled over the past twenty years, but also clearly analyses how and why this transformation has changed the Japanese polity in comparative perspectives. He makes a valuable contribution by introducing the essence of works by Japanese scholars for English readers, as well as by showing the usefulness of regarding Japanese multi-level politics as a case comparable with other industrialized countries like Canada and Germany.' - Satoshi Machidori, Professor in the Faculty of Law, Kyoto University. Author of Shusho Seiji no Seido Bunseki: Gendai Nihon Seiji no Kenryoku Kiban Keisei [The Japanese Premiership: An Institutional Analysis of the Power Relations]; Co-author of Nihon no Chiho Seiji: Nigen Daihyosei Seifu no Seisaku Sentaku [Japan's Local Politics: Continuity and Change in the Presidential System]; Contributor of Examining Japan's Lost Decades
