Over the past two decades non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have exploded in number and emerged as a new force in international and transnational politics. Why however do some countries nonetheless have more active NGO sectors than others? Using the case of Japan this book uncovers patterns of convergence and divergence in levels of activism across industrialized countries and offers a two-level political explanation for the rise of NGOs as a global phenomenon. The author argues that activism has been cultivated from above and shows the ways in which political structures and processes at the domestic and international level have either encouraged or discouraged activism. Japan a late developer in terms of its number of NGOs provided a poor political environment for NGO activism for most of the post-war period. In the past two decades however as this situation has changed NGOs have become a visible player as both critics and partners of the government.. Using the concepts of international political opportunity norm socialization and transnational diffusion Reimann traces the ways in which domestic and international politics interact and promote the rise of NGOs globally. This book will be of interest to postgraduate students and academics working in political science international relations sociology policy studies Asian studies international development and environmental politics.