This dissertation deals with the source of political revisionism, a fundamental question in world politics and a crucial factor in achieving global peace. In explaining why some states, but not others, choose a revisionist path and challenge the international system, I emphasize the impact of normative power on potential revisionist states. In addressing the question of political revisionism, I construct an analytical model called "norm-driven change"—a mechanism whereby the international normative system interacts with the domestic normative system to shape domestic policy. The model argues that when the international normative system is heterogeneous and unstable, this creates uncertainty at the domestic level. The normative uncertainty heightens political debates and changes actors' worldview and national identity, which affects change in state behavior in critical ways.

The norm-driven change model is applied to the Japanese political development from the 1850s to the 1930s. The investigation emphasizes the historical shift of Japanese politics from a normative perspective, as it transformed from a status quo imperial power that valued cooperation with other Great Powers, to an aggressive, revisionist state in the 1930s. In analyzing the emergence of Japanese revisionism in the 1930s, a central focus is placed on the impact of shifting international norms during the interwar period. The case study discusses how the decline of European imperialism and the rise of Wilsonian internationalism strengthened the position of the Japanese internationalists, which enabled them to push their agenda in the 1920s. The case study further examines how the fall of Wilsonian principles and the rise of other norms, such as economic protectionism, pan movement, and fascism, de-legitimized the internationalists' policy, and helped the military-nationalists to advance their agenda, resulting in Japan's aggressive continental policy in the 1930s.

Carefully scrutinizing the correlations between the international normative system and domestic politics, the study concludes that Japanese foreign policy was stable and congruent with the international normative system when the nature of the system was relatively stable (1850s∼1910s). Critical shifts in Japanese foreign policy during the 1920s and 1930s occurred in conjunction with the increasing uncertainty of the normative environment.