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Introduction Introduction Robert J. Pekkanen 1 The LDP Today It is impossible to understand post-war Japanese politics without the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP). The party has been centrally important to Japan’s politics since its inception. Moreover, the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan is one of the most important political parties in the world in the 21st Century. The same also applies for the 20th Century, even though the LDP was formed only in 1955. The criteria for “important” are subject to debate, but I mean here that the party has a substantial influence over the politics of a large number of people. Japan is one of the most populous countries in the world, with around 125 million residents. Given its domestic electoral domi- nance, the LDP has had a significant impact on the lives of everyone living in Japan. The LDP has been the dominant political party in Japan almost continu- ously for around 70 years. Over that time period, Japan has been an influential regional political power and a significant global economic actor. In this sense, the LDP has had some influence over an even greater number of people. On these grounds, we must reckon the LDP one of the most meaningful political parties in the world. Perhaps an even stronger case could be made for the Chinese Communist Party (and for the 20th Century, the Communist Party of the U.S.S.R.). However, the LDP must win power in competitive elections in a Japanese democracy that is often viewed as among the most free in the world. The LDP is thus a member of an elite club of the most important par- ties in democracies. Good cases can also be made for the two major American parties, particularly given the U.S.’s outsize influence on the global stage. However, the Republicans and Democrats have had their share of wins and losses at the polls, leading to alternation in power. Even when they do claim victory at the polls, they have often had to share power through some type of divided government. Germany’s Christian Democrats belong in the conver- sation about the most important political parties of the post-war period, but their electoral dominance cannot match that of the LDP. On that note, let’s consider another superlative. Along with a co-author, I wrote several years ago that the LDP was “probably the most successful political party in the democratic world simply in terms of its number of years in power” (Krauss and Pekkanen 2011, 4; in this volume see page 555). T. J. Pempel (1990) had earlier identified Japan as one of four “uncommon © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi:10.1163/9789004380523_002 2 Pekkanen democracies” where one political party enjoyed a string of electoral success (see this volume, Chapter 13). Besides the LDP, that group comprised the Social Democratic Party (SAP) of Sweden, the Labor Party (Mapai) of Israel, and the Christian Democrats (DC) of Italy. Even when Pempel grouped these parties, the LDP was probably the most successful of the bunch (the SAP had a good case, too). However, in the more than 25 years since Pempel identified these four parties, the LDP has even more clearly separated itself from the group. The SAP and Mapai have spent most of the 21st Century in opposition, and Mapai in particular has suffered a decline in electoral fortunes. Moreover, the Christian Democrats of Italy exited the discussion when the party dissolved in 1994 in the wake of the Tangentopli corruption scandals and mani pulite investigations. The collapse of the Christian Democrats highlights recent trends in politi- cal parties across the developed world, as parties have churned in and out of existence in the face of brisk electoral volatility. The LDP’s continued success is all the more remarkable because it seems to run counter to these trends of party system transformation, rise of flash parties, and electoral volatility. As political parties around the world face tremendous challenges, and as commu- nication technologies transform the political landscape, the continued success of the LDP stands out even more. It is even more remarkable because Japan as a country has been far from immune to these international trends. When the LDP won the election of 1955, the primary challenger defeated by the LDP was the Japan Socialist Party (JSP). For the next 38 years, the LDP faced off against the JSP—winning every election. This earned the title of the “’55 system.” Although the nuances of the term are subject to the usual scholarly debate, the “eternal verities” of the ’55 system were that the LDP was in power, and the JSP was the leading opposition party. The first section of this edited volume covers the “Origin and Development of the LDP” includ- ing Masaru Kohno’s analysis of “The Creation of the Liberal Democratic Party in 1955.” After the “Lockheed” scandal involving LDP Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka in the early 1970s, the LDP entered into a coalition with a party of LDP-defectors, the New Liberal Club. (For more on this period, see Chalmers Johnson’s chapter in this volume on “Tanaka Kakuei, Structural Corruption, and the Advent of Machine Politics in Japan.”) The New Liberal Club had only a handful of members, and by the mid-1980s they had formally returned to the fold and rejoined the LDP. In 1993, the LDP famously split and contested an election. The LDP won a plurality in the election, but it did not win a major- ity. Instead, a coalition of all the opposition parties (excepting the Japanese Communist Party) formed the government. For the first time since 1955, the LDP lost power. In early 1994, the opposition coalition government passed a .
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