Political Change in Japan: Electoral Behavior, Party Realignment, and the Koizumi Reforms

by Steven R. Reed (Editor), Kenneth Mori McElwain University of Tokyo (Editor), Kay Shimizu (Editor)

Overview

In the past twenty years, Japan has undergone dramatic changes. Electoral reform has altered the relationship between politicians and voters, and Japan is increasingly a two-party system. The popularity of former prime minister Koizumi Junichiro highlighted the salience of telegenic party leaders. Amid so many shifts, it remains unclear whether such changes will stand the test of time and where Japanese politics is heading. However, it is not too early to assess the permanence and the direction of political change in Japan. Each chapter in this wide-ranging volume addresses a key political development in Japan―from "stealing votes" to the constraints that women candidates face. Intended for scholars and students who study Japan, this timely volume also provides valuable reading for comparative political scientists. With contributions from some of the most distinguished scholars working on Japan today, Political Change in Japan seeks to answer the question: Was political reform in Japan a revolution or a flash in the pan?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781931368148
Publisher:	The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Publication date:	08/27/2009
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.04(w) x 9.05(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Steven R. Reed is a professor of modern government at Chuo University in Japan, where all of his classes are taught in Japanese. His major areas of research are parties, elections, electoral systems, and Japanese politics. Kenneth Mori McElwain is an assistant professor in the department of political science at the University of Michigan, where he studies the comparative politics of institutional design. His current book manuscript examines how partisan incentives influence the initial selection and subsequent manipulation of electoral systems, and how these choices can help unpopular governments to stay in power. Kay Shimizu is an assistant professor in the department of political science at Columbia University. Her research concerns the political economy of development in Japan and China with a focus on financial reform, corporate governance, elections and grassroots politics.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Introduction 3

1 An Overview of Postwar Japanese Politics Steven R. Reed Kay Shimizu 5

Electoral Politics 27

2 Avoiding a Two-Party System: The Liberal Democratic Party versus Duverger's Law Steven R. Reed Kay Shimizu 29

3 Has the Electoral-System Reform Made Japanese Elections Party-Centered? Ko Maeda 47

4 Pork-Barrel Politics and Partisan Realignment in Japan Jun Saito 67

5 Declining Electoral Competitiveness in Japan: Postreform Trends and Theoretical Pessimism Robert J. Weiner 87

Koizumi 107

6 How Koizumi Won Chao-Chi Lin 109

7 How Long Are Koizumi's Coattails? Party-Leader Visits in the 2005 Election Kenneth Mori McElwain 133

8 Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Japanese Postal Privatization as a Window on Political and Policymaking Change Patricia L. Maclachlan 157

Beyond Electoral Politics 181

9 The Slow Government Response to Japan's Bank Crisis: A New Interpretation Ethan Scheiner Michio Muramatsu 181

10 Stealing Elections: A Comparison of Election-Night Corruption in Japan, Canada, and the United States Ray Christensen Kyle Colvin 199

Women in Politics 219

11 The Puzzle of the Japanese Gender Gap in Liberal Democratic Party Support Barry C. Burden 221

12 Women Running for National Office in Japan: Are Koizumi's Female "Children" a Short-Term Anomaly or a Lasting Phenomenon? Alisa Gaunder 239

13 Surrogate Representation: Building Sustainable Linkage Structures in Contemporary Japanese Politics Sherry L. Martin 261

Conclusion 279

14 Japanese Politics in the Koizumi Era: Temporary Anomaly or a Paradigm Shift? Kenneth Mori McElwain Steven R. Reed 281

Index 293

About the Contributors 317