The aim of this thesis was to measure the influence that certain actors hold over US-Japan relations and to investigate the power imbalance in the alliance between the US and Japan. More...Show moreThe aim of this thesis was to measure the influence that certain actors hold over US-Japan relations and to investigate the power imbalance in the alliance between the US and Japan. More specifically, how these notions could be observed during Hatoyama’s term as prime minister, a time of crisis for US-Japan relations, caused by disagreement over the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, a military base in Okinawa. This study used process tracing as its theoretical framework by creating a causal mechanism, which explains the intervening process by certain entities or actors between an event and its outcome. This was done by challenging the dominant narrative on Hatoyama’s term as prime minister, which blames his downfall on his own incompetence, and providing a different, competing explanation to explain the process in between the DPJ’s electoral victory in 2009 and Hatoyama’s resignation.Show less
This research paper analyses 400 Japanese Tweets by the party leaders of eight parties during the official campaigning period from December 2nd to December 14th of the 2014 General Election in...Show moreThis research paper analyses 400 Japanese Tweets by the party leaders of eight parties during the official campaigning period from December 2nd to December 14th of the 2014 General Election in Japan. The main goal of this research is to identify to what extent the Internet campaigning tool Twitter causes a candidate–voter interaction in this first Japanese general election where Internet campaigning has been legalized. The analysis is a mix between qualitative and quantitative research.Show less
