Please note: This lecture will be held in person in room 1010, Weiser Hall, and virtually on Zoom. The webinar is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Once you've registered, joining information will be sent to your email.

Register for the Zoom webinar at: https://myumi.ch/XGpyJ.

The Constitution of Japan is the oldest unamended constitution in the world, but debates over its revision have picked up steam in the last decade. Various Liberal Democratic Party leaders have declared constitutional change a top priority, but it is unclear whether the public shares their commitment. This talk focuses on a specific distinction: whether amendments are perceived to be necessary (present urgency) versus desirable (future improvement). Professor McElwain will discuss this difference using evidence from comparative constitutional data and survey experiments in Japan.

Kenneth Mori McElwain is a professor of comparative politics at the Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo. His research focuses on comparative institutions and Japanese politics, with a particular emphasis on constitutional design and change. He holds a BA in public and international affairs from Princeton University and a PhD in political science from Stanford University, and he was an assistant professor of political science at the University of Michigan before assuming his current position. During the 2024-25 academic year, he is a Visiting Professor of Japanese politics at Columbia University.

This lecture is made possible with the generous support of the U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant.

If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us at cjsevents@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.