Which country do you think is more politically stable: Japan or the U.S.?

The US is no longer a democracy. It doesn't matter who is elected, the democracy is over.

Japan, but moribund politics is not good, either.

Gene HennighToday 05:43 am JST

The US is no longer a democracy. It doesn't matter who is elected, the democracy is over.

Democracy does exist and Russia and China ain't it.

Japan and the U.S.A. are no more democratic than the People's Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea).

The problem of politics in Japan is too much stability, even to the point of huge scandals not being enough to produce any significative change.

Japan and the U.S.A. are no more democratic than the People's Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea).

A bit of a stretch.

One thing the US and Japan have in common is very poor turnout rates.

At least they get the chance though.

The US is no longer a democracy. It doesn't matter who is elected, the democracy is over.

Now it’s not, but once this administration is gone. Then things should get better. The U.S. has other problems it needs to deal with, but having what we have now a one party rule will not fix or solve anything.

The US has never been a Democracy. It is a Constitutional Republic.

kyushubillToday 08:26 am JST

The US has never been a Democracy. It is a Constitutional Republic.

The idea that only direct democracy is democracy is really quite laughable but a popular canard among those that want to introduce illiberalism.

bass4funkToday 08:08 am JST

The US is no longer a democracy. It doesn't matter who is elected, the democracy is over.

Now it’s not, but once this administration is gone. Then things should get better. The U.S. has other problems it needs to deal with, but having what we have now a one party rule will not fix or solve anything.

Because having the electoral college artifact a president into the white house will restore democracy? Because Mr. Call Out the National Guard will restore democracy?

BertieWoosterToday 07:58 am JST

Japan and the U.S.A. are no more democratic than the People's Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea).

And yet you live in Japan. You must really like those dictatorships and not have a clear idea where democracy might exist in the world.

@ Taiwan is not China:

From the Supreme Court in Jackson vs USA, 1826: The United States is accurately defined as a constitutional federal republic. What does this mean? “Constitutional” refers to the fact that government in the United States is based on a Constitution which is the supreme law of the United States.

Japan is a lot more politically stable by a longshot, you don't see any mass social unrests towards government decisions. Then again, the system in Japan really makes it nearly impossible for people to have any time and energy to pay attention to other things.

'Moribund' isn't such a bad thing as the RotW lurches towards recession, suppression and war. I'm surprised anyone voted for the US.

USA id deeply divided

Just under half of US adults bother voting. They take no part on the polarization.

Maybe the conspiracy theorists believe a lot more vote and the votes they like get destroyed.

They are actually linked at the moment. Considering the alternatives I am sure both countries will be fine but I wouldn’t be surprised if Japan has a Trump moment and has a renegade politician arise based on the recent kickback scandals.

GBR48Today 09:36 am JST

'Moribund' isn't such a bad thing as the RotW lurches towards recession, suppression and war. I'm surprised anyone voted for the US.

If RotW is the US, we are very far from recession, my friend. And wars come with being the indispensable power.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Japan has a Trump moment and has a renegade politician arise based on the recent kickback scandals

I remember talking to a Japanese friend about whether a Trump-like figure would be possible in Japan. The parliamentary system, and particularly the domination by the LDP, makes it more difficult.

They’ve certainly had loudmouth populists at local levels. There may be some appetite for it there but hard to see at the very top.

America is a basket case... Japan isn't perfect by any means, but when Americans elect old people or loonies as president, won't stop the sale of weapons and goes to war at the drop of a hat... well, what can you expect?

Thunderbird2Today 05:33 pm JST

America is a basket case... Japan isn't perfect by any means, but when Americans elect old people or loonies as president, won't stop the sale of weapons and goes to war at the drop of a hat... well, what can you expect?

Why would we stop the sale of weapons or the wars our allies, such as Japan, depend on us for? Someone has to be the adult.

If by political stability you mean that there’s a healthy political system with at least two political parties that can actually win general elections and where people actually vote for change then the US is in a better condition than Japan; Japan seems to be politically “stable”… because the people of this country are perpetually shrugging their shoulders but the ignorance and submissiveness of the electorate in Japan is affecting the country—people confuse liberalism and the left with communism; the rural areas were “swallowed” by the ldp—they dominate rural Japan (which means old faithful/ignorant voters) and apparently, there’s nothing the opposition can do…; also, clientelism is deeply embedded in the Japanese political system (I’ll give you/do something, you’ll give me/do something) and, like I said, the submissiveness of the Japanese people—they tend to vote for/obey/support/admire the ones already in the top, the winner, the strong—the ldp can have a bad, incompetent leader and that same person can automatically become the next PM of Japan. I’d say that this fake “stability” (if you can call it that) is hurting the country; imho, depending on how you look at it, the US, with all the turmoil and division (my guess is that we need a little bit of that around here), can be more “stable” than Japan.

American fear of socialist institutions (bc socialism = communism right?) is hobbling what could be a successful democratic experiment. Among a host of other things.

Japanese politics is not as toxic and bat guano crazy as US, but it has its own problems, like baked-on dinosaurs who inherited their privilege and power and have no idea about, nor regard for, the general population.

Neither is in a healthy state, fit to really lead, but I’d say that Japan is far more stable than US.

The US has a longer track record than Japan here - but obviously both are fairly stable at this juncture, post Japans defeat to the US et all in wwii

I'd change stable to stagnant but Japan is still better than the US

It is stable in Japan because public gave up as nothing ever changes.

The US is in the danger zone thanks to Trump wanting to end its democracy and turn it into Russia 2.0 with US flavorings. All so he can remain as president for as long as he wants.

So Japan is more stable than the US.

But i would say Australia is more stable than Japan in this area. Nobody take politicians very seriously unless they stuff up enough to get voted out of office. We dont waste time on political parties, we would rather throw a good backyard BBQ.

Americans treat politicians like rock stars or football teams. Everyone else is useless or the enemy now. No patience or common sense to work bipartisan to get things done. Just object to the opposition no matter if it hurts the country. Get back to living life and whats important, and remember fellow Americans are on your side and are not the enemy.

It would just take a gentle nudge for Japan to flip to the far right . . . sadly.

A major economic crisis, or what have you, would only make a far swing to the right happen faster.

Japan's strong point and it's weak point is that it can turn on a dime.

I'll say this because it will be downvoted, but thousands of people stormed a government building and killed policemen in the process. This only happened because security forces allowed them right up to that government building. No lines of police, sirens, tear gas etc. That is not a normal occurrence in a stable country.

This is reinforced by the reaction that it wasn't a big deal and noone involved is particularly guilty of very much. The goverment spies on everyone (see Snowden's revelations), so that aspect of security matters, but storming the main government building itself, that doesn't matter.

Since the riot on the Capitol Building, on Jan 6. Trump and his supporters have made the country more unstable than Japan.

Politics has left the US horribly divided. You can't talk about politics at work or even with neighbors anymore. It's terrible. I blame Trump and his deplorables.

I suppose the U.S.??.... because over there they have a Stable Genius as former and probably future president?

Agree with Bertie Wooster.

Democracy is alive in the USA ! Voters don't even need to go to the polls anymore, and we still have record numbers of voters in every election!