Word: backrooms
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...seats up for grabs, the DPJ became the first opposition party to control the Upper House. The results seem to suggest that, after decades as a virtual single-party state, Japan has finally produced a viable opposition and a true two-party democracy, creating an environment where backroom politics would fade and voters would be able to choose between meaningful alternatives at the polls...
...party self-destructs, politicians will have lost a golden opportunity - and so will have Japan. Throughout most of the postwar era, entrenched bureaucrats and the LDP élite plotted the course of the country through backroom deals and alliances. But in recent years the country's political landscape has begun to change, thanks largely to the dynamic style of Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, who bypassed the old guard and took his case for reform directly to the voters. That was progress, but what's still missing is an alternative to the LDP, something that is needed even more...
...Once led by the giants of its founding generation, Israel is now run by a generation that rose through the ranks of backroom politics, and whose rise has been accompanied by the corruption scandals to prove it. Greater-good statesmanship has long ago given way to the petty power ambitions of career politicians, as their response to the current crisis seems to demonstrate. Not only is Olmert himself unwilling to do the honorable thing and resign, but his cabinet and the Knesset appears unwilling to risk their own jobs to force him out through a no-confidence vote that would...
...Constitutional reform. The current system is unsustainable for all stakeholders. The Chief Executive cannot claim a popular mandate, relying instead on the support of a narrow group of electors with vested commercial interests-a system that leads to backroom horse-trading. The Legislative Council also suffers from a democratic deficit. It does not truly represent the people because half its members hail from the same types of vested interests, yet possess the same voting power as those directly elected. The system is unfair because it favors a few over the whole. Hong Kong needs full democracy...
...decision to have her "People's Open House" be invitation-only could paint her as cynical or, with the right spin, as simply a savvy realist. A successful reintroduction for Pelosi should combine the warm fuzzy of a northern California family woman with the bare-knuckle skills of a backroom pol: the iron grandma...