7 - The Transition of Political Institutions in the 1990s and the New Century

Summary

Introduction

Society is in a constant state of change even though change may be too subtle or gradual to notice. Japanese politics under the LDP's one-party dominance was changing in a similar manner – change was present but subtle. The political regime during the postwar period looked stable, for the most part: The same party ruled the government for almost four decades. The interest-based competitive and cooperative relationships among politicians, bureaucrats, and socioeconomic interests dominated the policy-making process on issues vital to their interests. Politicians engaged in the same old distributive politics. Despite repeated calls for the reduction of corruption and money politics, ruling LDP politicians went about their usual business, and little changed in the way of money politics and pork barrel politics. Most of the time, the interests of citizens and consumers were given secondary attention by policy makers, unless they threatened the LDP's electoral prospects. And many politicians implicated in corruption scandals kept getting reelected to the Diet, and the LDP continued to be the party in power.

Yet, under this apparent tranquility, there were also changes. The LDP's electoral strength lay more in rural than urban areas. But the party's electoral support experienced long-term decline, partly as a result of the movement of Japanese people from rural to urban areas during the high growth period and because of the decline of the agricultural population that had supported the LDP. The LDP's other electoral bases – such as the distribution, construction, and transportation sectors – also became relatively stagnant industries and the sources of economic inefficiencies.