Daniel M. Smith

What connects the discovery of America, the creation of Coca Cola and the art book bought for GBP50 that turned out to contain original Picassos? That's right: sheer blind luck. No matter how meticulously things are planned, time after time the most important bits of life are the product of simple, random chance. In wonderfully witty style, Daniel M. Smith gives us the stories of inventors, Nobel Prize winners, scientists, actresses, escapees, engineers, kings, architects, pop stars, criminals, supermodels, tennis champions, opera singers and many more who have benefited from happy serendipity. From the Japanese trader who made fortune after a share price typo to the German novelist who lost his manuscript on a train, and ended up buying some fish wrapped in his own pages at the station, "The Lucky Bugger's Casebook" is a celebration of the type of unexpected good fortune we all dream of - just ask Sir Paul McCartney, who awoke one morning with the tune to 'Yesterday' having arrived in his head overnight.

Tales of Serendipity and Outrageous Good Fortune

The Lucky Bugger's Casebook

The presence of dynasties seems to run counter to widely held conceptions of democratic opportunity and fairness. Yet they persist throughout the modern democratized world. Looking at the institutional change in Japan's party system as a comparative model, Daniel M. Smith examines the factors that contribute to their development over time and space and the advantages that members of dynasties reap throughout their political careers.

The Inherited Incumbency Advantage in Japan

Dynasties and Democracy

Robert J. Pekkanen

Ethan Scheiner

Steven R. Reed

This third volume in the Japan Decides series remains the premier venue for scholarly research on Japanese elections. Putting a spotlight on the 2017 general election, the contributors discuss the election results, party politics, coalition politics with Komeito, the cabinet, constitutional revision, new opposition parties, and Abenomics. Additionally, the volume looks at campaigning, public opinion, media, gender issues and representation, North Korea and security issues, inequality, immigration and cabinet scandals. With a topical focus and timely coverage of the latest dramatic changes in Japanese politics, the volume will appeal to researchers and policy experts alike, and will also make a welcome addition to courses on Japanese politics, comparative politics and electoral politics.

Daniel M. Smith

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