Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T14:13:47.492Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Japanese Lower House Campaigns in Transition: Manifest Changes or Fleeting Fads?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2016

Patrick Koellner
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Electioneering for the Japanese Lower House has undergone significant changes in recent years. While voter mobilization strategies still figure prominently in the local-level campaigns of individual candidates, political parties increasingly use voter-chasing strategies at the national level. Such chasing strategies, whose manifestations in Japan have so far included the manifesto and the media-spin approach, target in particular the growing number of independent voters. The concurrence of elements of continuity and change in electioneering has led to a “hybridization” of Lower House election campaigns. The article examines this phenomenon in the light of newer conceptual and theoretical approaches to electoral politics in democratic settings.

Keywords

election campaigningmixed-member electoral systemvoter targetingvoter mobilizationvoter chasingmanifestosJapan
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of East Asian Studies , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , January 2009 , pp. 121 - 149
Copyright
Copyright © East Asia Institute 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akarui senkyo suishin kyōkai. 2006. Dai 44-kai shūgiin sōsenkyo no jittai. Tokyo: Akarui senkyo suishin kyōkai.Google Scholar
Asano, Masahiko. 2003. “Senkyo seido kaikaku to kōhosha kōnin: Jiyūmin-shutō (1960–2000).” Senkyo kenkyū 18: 174–189.Google Scholar
Atarashii Nihon o tsukuru kokumin kaigi. 2004. “Ima koso seiken kōyaku no tasseido mikiwame yo.” Chūō kōron 5: 106–113.Google Scholar
Betz, Joachim, Erdmann, Gero, and Koellner, Patrick, eds. 2004. Die gesellschaftliche Verankerung politischer Parteien: Formate und informelle Dimensionen im internationalen Vergleich. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blechinger, Verena. 2003. “Japans Politiker im Internet: Wählerwerbung im digitalen Zeitalter.” In Medien in Japan: Gesellschafts- und kulturwis-senschaftliche Perspektiven, ed. Gössmann, Hilaria and Waldenberger, Franz, 128–152. Hamburg: Institut für Asienkunde.Google Scholar
Butler, David, and Ranney, Austin. 1992. “Conclusion.” In Electioneering: A Comparative Study of Continuity and Change, ed. Butler, David and Ranney, Austin, 278–286. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Carlson, Matthew M. 2006. “Electoral Reform and the Costs of Personal Support in Japan.” Journal of East Asian Studies 6, 2: 233–258.Google Scholar
Christensen, Raymond. 1996. “The New Japanese Election System.” Pacific Affairs 69, 1: 49–70.Google Scholar
Christensen, Raymond. 1998. “The Effect of Electoral Reforms on Campaign Practices in Japan: Putting New Wine in Old Bottles.” Asian Survey 38, 10: 986–1004.Google Scholar
Cowhey, Peter F., and McCubbins, Mathew D. 1995. “Conclusion.” In Structure and Policy in Japan and the United States, ed. Cowey, Peter F. and McCubbins, Mathew D., 253–260. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cox, Gary W., and Thies, Michael F. 1998. “The Cost of Intraparty Competition: The Single, Nontransferable Vote and Money Politics in Japan.” Comparative Political Studies 31, 3: 267–291.Google Scholar
Cox, Karen, and Schoppa, Leonard J. 2002. “Interaction Effects in Mixed-Member Electoral Systems: Theory and Evidence from Germany, Japan, and Italy.” Comparative Political Studies 35, 9: 1027–1053.Google Scholar
Curtis, Gerald L. 1971. Election Campaigning Japanese Style. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Curtis, Gerald L. 1992. “Japan.” In Electioneering: A Comparative Study of Continuity and Change, ed. Butler, David and Ranney, Austin, 222–243. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Curtis, Gerald L. 1999. The Logic of Japanese Politics: Leaders, Institutions, and the Limits of Political Change. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Farrell, David M. 1996. “Campaign Strategies and Tactics.” In Comparing Democracies: Elections and Voting in Global Perspective, ed. LeDuc, Lawrence, Niemi, Richard G., and Norris, Pippa, 160–183. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Farrell, David M. 2002. “Campaign Modernization and the West European Party.” In Political Parties in the New Europe: Political and Analytical Challenges, ed. Luther, Kurt Richard and Müller-Rommel, Ferdinand, 63–83. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Farrell, David M., and Webb, Paul. 2000. “Political Parties as Campaign Organizations.” In Parties Without Partisans: Political Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies, ed. Dalton, Russell J. and Wattenberg, Martin P., 102–128. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Green, Donald P., and Smith, Jennifer K. 2003. “Professionalization of Campaigns and the Secret History of Collective Action Problems.” Journal of Theoretical Politics 15, 3: 321–339.Google Scholar
Grofman, Bernard. 1999. “SNTV: An Inventory of Theoretically Derived Propositions and a Brief Review of the Evidence from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Alabama.” In Elections in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan Under the Single Non-Transferable Vote, ed. Grofman, Bernard, Lee, Sung-Chull, Winkler, Edwin A., and Woodall, Brian, 375–416. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Holtz-Bacha, Christina. 2003. “Political Campaign Communication.” In Comparing Political Communication: Theories, Cases, and Challenges, ed. Esser, Frank and Pfetsch, Barbara, 213–230. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Jun, Uwe. 2004. Der Wandel von Parteien in der Mediendemokratie. Frankfurt: Campus.Google Scholar
Kabashima, Ikuo, Taniguchi, Masaki, and Sugawara, Taku. 2004. “Genkai ni tōshita? Koizumi majikku.” Ronza, May, 18–34.Google Scholar
Kitschelt, Herbert, and Wilkinson, Steven I., eds. 2007. Patrons, Clients, and Policies: Patterns of Democratic Accountability and Political Competition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Klein, Axel. 2006a. Das politische System Japans. Bonn: Bier'sche Verlagsanstalt.Google Scholar
Klein, Axel. 2006b. “LDP-Wahlkampf im Zeitalter der Mediatisierung: Ein Stück politischer Kultur im Wandel.” Japan aktuell–Journal of Current Japanese Affairs 14, 2: 33–44.Google Scholar
Klein, Axel. 2008. “Ineffectiveness Accepted: Why Candidates in Japan Are Slow to Change Their Suboptimal Campaign Style.” Japan aktuell–Journal of Current Japanese Affairs 16, 1: 73–87.Google Scholar
Koellner, Patrick. 2002. “Upper House Elections in Japan and the Power of the ‘Organized Vote.”’ Japanese Journal of Political Science 3, 1: 113–137.Google Scholar
Koellner, Patrick. 2006a. “The Liberal Democratic Party at 50: Sources of Dominance and Changes in the Koizumi Era.” Social Science Japan Journal 9, 2: 243–255.Google Scholar
Koellner, Patrick. 2006b. Die Organisation japanischer Parteien. Hamburg: Institut für Asienkunde.Google Scholar
Krauss, Ellis S. 2002. “The Media's Role in a Changing Japanese Electorate.” In Undercurrents in Japanese Politics, Asia Program Special Report, 2nd ed., Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 6–12.Google Scholar
Krauss, Ellis S., and Nyblade, Benjamin. 2005. “‘Presidentialization’ in Japan? The Prime Minister, Media and Elections in Japan.” British Journal of Political Science 35: 357–368.Google Scholar
Krauss, Ellis S., and Pekkanen, Robert. 2004. “Explaining Party Adaptation to Electoral Reform: The Discreet Charm of the LDP?” Journal of Japanese Studies 30, 1: 1–34.Google Scholar
Lam, Peng-Er. 2003. “Competing Modes of Election Campaigning in Urban Japan: The 2003 Saitama Gubernatorial Election.” Asian Perspective 29, 1: 79–98.Google Scholar
Maeda, Yukio. 2006. “The 2005 General Election and Public Opinion.” Social Science Japan, October 2006, 19–22.Google Scholar
McKean, Margaret, and Scheiner, Ethan. 2000. “Japan's New Electoral System: La plus ça change …” Electoral Studies 19: 447–477.Google Scholar
Miura, Hiroshi. 2005. Sennō senkyo. Tokyo: Kobunsha.Google Scholar
sōken, Mizuho jōhō. 2003. “‘Manifesuto senkyo’ ni kansuru ishiki chōsa kekka ni tsuite,” www.mizuho-ir.co.jp/research/manifesto031113.html (accessed October 25, 2005).Google Scholar
Masaru, Nishio, and Jun, Iio. 2005. “03 aki, manifesuto wa kou tsukareta.” Chūō kōron 5: 114–121.Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa. 2002. “Campaign Communications.” In Comparing Democracies 2: New Challenges in the Study of Elections and Voting, ed. LeDuc, Lawrence, Niemi, Richard G., and Norris, Pippa, 127–147. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Otake, Hideo, ed. 1998. How Electoral Reform Boomeranged: Continuity in Japanese Campaigning Style. Tokyo: Japan Center for International Exchange.Google Scholar
Ōyama, Reiko, and Fujimori, Katsuhiko. 2004. Manifesuto de seiji o sodateru. Tokyo: Garyusha.Google Scholar
Park, Cheol Hee. 2000. Daigishi no tsukurarekata: Shōsenkyoku no senkyo senryaku. Tokyo: Bungei shunju.Google Scholar
PHP sōgō kenkyūjo. 2005. “Manifesuto hakusho,” http://research.php.co.jp/seisaku/mani-fest/manifest_20050726.html (accessed October 25, 2005).Google Scholar
Piattoni, Simona, ed. 2001. Clientelism, Interests, and Democratic Representation: The European Experience in Historical and Comparative Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Plasser, Fritz, Plasser, with Gunda. 2002. Global Political Campaigning: A Worldwide Analysis of Campaign Professionals and Their Practices. Westport, CT: Praeger.Google Scholar
Poguntke, Thomas, and Webb, Paul, eds. 2005. The Presidentialization of Politics: A Comparative Study of Modern Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ramseyer, , Mark, J., and Rosenbluth, Frances McCall. 1993. Japan's Political Marketplace. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Reed, Steven R. 1994. “Democracy and the Personal Vote: A Cautionary Tale from Japan.” Electoral Studies 13, 1: 17–28.Google Scholar
Reed, Steven R. 2002. “Evaluating Political Reform in Japan: A Midterm Report.” Japanese Journal of Political Science 3, 2: 243–263.Google Scholar
Reed, Steven R. 2003a. “Realignment Between the 1996 and 2000 Elections.” In Japanese Electoral Politics: Creating a New Party System, ed. Reed, Steven R., 40–61. London: RoutledgeCurzon.Google Scholar
Reed, Steven R. ed. 2003b. Japanese Electoral Politics: Creating a New Party System. London: RoutledgeCurzon.Google Scholar
Reed, Steven R. 2005. “Japan: Haltingly Towards a Two-Party System.” In The Politics of Electoral Systems, ed. Gallagher, Michael and Mitchell, Paul, 277–293. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Reed, Steven R., and Bolland, John M. 1999. “The Fragmentation Effect of SNTV in Japan.” In Elections in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan Under the Single Non-Transferable Vote, ed. Grofman, Bernard, Lee, Sung-Chull, Winkler, Edwin A., and Woodall, Brian, 211–226. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Reed, Steven R., and Thies, Michael F. 2001a. “The Causes of Electoral Reform in Japan.” In Mixed-Member Electoral Systems: The Best of Both Worlds? ed. Shugart, Matthew Soberg and Wattenberg, Martin P., 152–172. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Reed, Steven R., and Thies, Michael F. 2001b. “The Consequences of Electoral Reform in Japan.” In Mixed-Member Electoral Systems. The Best of Both Worlds? ed. Shugart, Matthew Soberg and Wattenberg, Martin P., 380–403. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Richardson, Bradley. 1967a. “A Japanese House of Councillors Election: Support Mobilization and Political Recruitment.” Modern Asian Studies 1, 4: 385–402.Google Scholar
Richardson, Bradley. 1967b. “Japanese Local Politics: Support Mobilization and Leader ship Style.” Asian Survey 7, 12: 860–875.Google Scholar
Richardson, Bradley, and Patterson, Dennis. 2001. “Political Traditions and Political Change: The Significance of Postwar Japanese Politics for Political Science.” Annual Review Political Science 4: 93–115.Google Scholar
Rohrschneider, Robert. 2002. “Mobilizing Versus Chasing: How Do Parties Target Voters in Election Campaigns?” Electoral Studies 21: 367–382.Google Scholar
Sasaki, Takeshi. 2003. “Manifestos as a Means of Reforming Japanese Politics.” Japan Echo 30, 5: 27–31.Google Scholar
Schafferer, Christian, Kazuhisa, with Kawakami. 2006. “Electoral Campaigning in Japan.” In Election Campaigning in East and Southeast Asia, ed. Schafferer, Christian, 11–27. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Sekō, Hiroshige. 2006. Jimintō kaizō purojekutu 650hi. Tokyo: Shichōsha.Google Scholar
Semetko, Holli A. 2006. “Parties in the Media Age.” In Handbook of Party Politics, ed. Katz, Richard S. and Crotty, William, 515–527. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Shūeisha, . 2007. Imidas 2007. Tokyo: Shūeisha.Google Scholar
Takase, Jun'ichi. 2005. Buki toshite no “kotoba seiji.” Tokyo: Kodansha.Google Scholar
Tanaka, Aiji, and Martin, Sherry. 2003. “The New Independent Voter and the Evolving Japanese Party System.” Asian Perspective 27, 3: 21–51.Google Scholar
Taniguchi, Masaki. 2007. “Changing Media, Changing Politics in Japan.” Japanese Journal of Political Science 8, 1: 147–166.Google Scholar
Taniguchi, Masaki, Sugawara, Taku, and Kabashima, Ikuo. 2005. “Jimintō ni suwingu shita yawaraki kōzō kaikakuha.” Ronza, November, 93–104.Google Scholar
Thies, Michael F. 2002. “Changing How the Japanese Vote: The Promise and Pitfalls of the 1994 Electoral Reform.” In How Asia Votes, ed. Fuhsheng, John and Newman, David, 92–117. New York: Chatham House.Google Scholar
Tkach-Kawaski, Leslie M. 2003. “Politics@Japan.” Party Politics 9, 1: 105–123.Google Scholar
Yomiuri shinbun Tokyo honsha seron chōsabu hensha, ed. 2004. Niseitō jidai no akebono. Tokyo: Bokutakusha.Google Scholar