Japan: Politics

Outline Political institutions Parties and elections parliamentary system of government National Diet Prime Minister and Cabinet bureaucracy Judiciary Parties and elections

National Diet House of Councillors (Upper House) House of Representatives (Lower House) choose prime minister pass budget ratify treaties

Prime Minister & Cabinet All are members of the Japanese National Diet Most are members of the House of Representatives

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (born in 1954) Prime Minister since December 2012 Liberal Democratic Party family’s political and economic power father was Foreign Minister 1982-1986 won father’s seat in the House of Representatives in 1993

LDP All Prime Ministers of Japan from 1954 to 1993 from 1996 to 2009 were from LDP

The Bureaucracy Heavy involvement in policymaking: draft legislation (short and vague laws) implementing or enforcing legislation Recruit the best of college graduates ``Prime Ministers come and go, but we are forever” - A Japanese bureaucrat

Local government Unitary rather than federal system: local authority delegated by central governmt. 47 prefectures governors and legislatures hundreds of municipalities mayors and city councils 2/3 of all government spending 1/3 of all tax revenues

Party Systems before '92 Combination of multiparty system with sustained dominance of 1 majority party Chaotic political party system 1946-55 2 conservative parties, 2 socialist parties, communist party, plus micro-parties Party merges in 1955 “One-and-a-Half Party System”

Party System 1955 - 1992

Major Political Parties Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) conservative catch-all party Japan Socialist Party (JSP) “Japan Peace Party” Japan Communist Party (JCP) anti-emperor, anti-capitalism, anti-military only party untainted by money politics

National Vote Share

Pre-1994 Electoral Rules

Industrial contributions

The Iron Triangle bureaucrats big business executives LDP politicians

Political Earthquake of '93-'95 Economic stagnation since late 1980s Major corruption scandals of LDP leaders 2.5 billion yen contribution from a company 1 billion yen income tax evasion LDP Diet members split and some left to form new parties LDP coalition cabinets since 1996

New Electoral Rules (1996) 480 members in House of Representatives 300 elected from single-member districts 180 elected from 11 proportional representation districts 252 members in House of Councillors 100 elected from proportional representation district 152 elected from 47 prefecture constituencies

Party Realignment (‘90s)

Public support for parties

Japan’s International Role Yoshida Doctrine (pre-1980s) political-economic cooperation with U.S. small national defense expenditure security guaranteed by U.S. (military bases) Low-profile foreign policy Trade policy Economic superpower (1980s)