William Pesek “Keeping politics in the family is hurting Japan” http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=20611732
小泉純一郎の引退会見＝小泉進次郎の襲名披露を”The most cynical moment in recent Japanese politics”と呼んでいる。ただ、何故今頃になって日本政界の世襲制批判なの？ という感じはする。小泉内閣や福田内閣に比べて、麻生政権になってから世襲制が強化されているということはあるにしても。
ところで、
Among Aso's original lineup, descendents of former lawmakers took up 11 of the 17 positions. That beat Fukuda's eight such appointments. Even Koizumi, who in 2005 used outsider candidates to win 68 percent of the seats in the lower house, turned around and gave nine cabinet posts to legislators' relatives.
「天下り」というのが問題であることは間違いないのだが、それが政界における世襲制（”we-are-family governing system”）の「民間部門におけるcounterpart」だというのは妥当なのかどうか。
Japan's we-are-family governing system has a counterpart in the private sector known as "amakudari." Literally translated as "descent from heaven," the practice hands out executive posts to former public officials. In other words, you scratch my back when you're in government, and I'll scratch yours with a cushy job when you're ready.The corruption that amakudari engenders is one reason it took Japanese banks so long to come clean on the magnitude of their bad loans in the 1990s. It also explains why government policies are skewed toward huge, politically connected companies, not startups that might reinvigorate the economy.
なお、
Family politics aren't unique. Look no further than the Bushes of the United States, the Gandhis of India, the Kirchners of Argentina, the Bhuttos of Pakistan, the Macapagals of the Philippines and the Sukarnos of Indonesia.
