The Communist Party of Japan is the oldest in the country. It still operates in the country, although it has practically nothing in common with other communist structures in the world. And this is only one of the features of the party system of Japan. What is its influence? We will talk about the development of politics in the state and the evolution of the party system in this article.
Stages of the evolution of the party system
Active political life in Japan began only after the Second World War. Prior to this, such organizations, of course, existed, for example, the Communist Party of Japan, but acted either illegally or did not play a decisive role in the life of the state.
The entire evolution of the party system can be conditionally divided into two periods. The first of these is conditionally called the “1955 system”. It falls on 1955-1993 and is characterized by stability, which was provided by the main political forces of the country at that time - the socialist and liberal democratic parties. Moreover, the liberal democrats have been in power all this time, and the socialists in opposition. Among political scientists, a special term has appeared that denotes such a system, “one and a half party”.
The second period began in 1993 and continues to this day. It is marked by frequent and radical changes in the political arena of the country. The system is already fully multi-party. The winner of the elections constantly has to form a coalition government.
Recently, the main centers of political forces are the Liberal Democratic Party, whose representatives are conservatives, and the Democratic Party - the liberals. They most often won the last election in the country. In addition to them, the liberal party, the “Club of Reforms”, which can be attributed to neoconservatives, and the left parties, the Social Democratic, Communist, and the Federation of Democratic Reforms, are actively participating in the political struggle.
This article lists the parties in Japan that play the largest role in the country.
Political System Issues
Over the years that the liberal democratic party has been in power, and this monopoly lasted almost 40 years, corruption flourished in the highest echelons of power, and the bureaucratic and party elite merged. Therefore, the very first coalition government, formed in Japan since the end of World War II, immediately headed for reform. And it happened only in 1993.
The composition of this government was in opposition to the liberal democrats. It included all the parties that were in parliament at that time, with the exception of the communists and the liberal democrats themselves. In 1994, the Japanese parliament passed several fundamental laws, the most important of which is the law on small constituencies. In accordance with it, the procedure for the election of deputies to the House of Representatives is being revised. Previously, the elections were held according to the proportional system, now it is changed to a mixed one, in which the majority of the members of the House of Representatives are elected by the majority system and only the smaller by the party lists.
The 1996 and 2000 parliamentary elections demonstrate that such an electoral system is disadvantageous for its initiators themselves. Most in the parliament are liberal democrats, and all other parties have to unite for election campaigns to get votes.
Liberal Democratic Party
Among the parties in Japan, the largest and most influential in the country in the 20th century is the liberal-democratic one. It was created in 1955 as a result of the merger of two bourgeois structures - democratic and liberal. Its first chairman was Prime Minister Itiro Hatoyama in 1956, almost all of its leaders led the government until the 90s.
The party is supported by a large part of the conservative population. These are mainly rural residents. She also receives votes from large corporations, bureaucrats, and knowledge workers. After losing influence in 1993, she joined the opposition, but only for 11 months. Already in 1994, liberal democrats entered into an alliance with the socialist party, and in 1996 regained the majority of seats in parliament. Until 2009, she managed to form a government with the support of several small parties. Following the results of the 2009 elections, she was again in opposition. But she was able to regain the status of the ruling party in 2012 as a result of early elections.
In domestic politics, he follows a conservative course. However, she is often accused of using an administrative resource. Within the structure itself, financial scandals regularly occur.
Surprisingly, this political party of Japan never had a clear philosophy and ideology. The positions of its leaders can be described as more right-wing than those of the opposition, but not as radical as those of the right-wing groups that remain in an illegal position. The policy of liberal democrats is almost always associated with rapid economic growth based on exports and close cooperation with America.
Situation today
In recent years, the party has been implementing reforms aimed at reducing the level of bureaucracy, reforming the tax system, and privatizing state-owned companies and enterprises. Strengthening the country in the Asia-Pacific region, developing education and science, increasing domestic demand, and building a modern information society remain the priorities in foreign policy. This is the main ruling party in Japan in the 20th century.
In 2016, liberal democrats announced the need to amend an article of the Constitution, which prohibits Japan from waging war, as well as creating its own armed forces. The coalition in power, along with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said the provision was an anachronism, in particular pointing to a potential military threat from North Korea.
Amendment to the Constitution has not yet been adopted. To do this, it needs to be supported by two-thirds of the deputies of both houses of parliament, and after that it must be approved by a popular referendum. It is believed that the initiative can be taken, since the Liberal Democratic Party for this has the necessary number of votes in the lower house.
Interestingly, in this case, the party is not organizationally formalized. Therefore, it does not have a fixed number of members; it is estimated that there are about two million people. The supreme body is the congress, which is convened annually.
Socialist party
It was this political force that was the main opponent of the liberal democrats for most of the country's post-war history. Now it is called the Social Democratic Party of Japan, it has the least seats in parliament.
It was founded in 1901, but it was soon dispersed by the police, and many went into anarchism, and one of the first socialists led the local Communist Party. In 1947, the socialists formed the largest faction in parliament, occupying 144 of 466 seats, but it was soon ousted from power by the liberal democrats. In 1955, she joined the Socialist International, being considered one of the most left-wing parties throughout the Cold War. Japanese socialists advocated a socialist revolution without violence and the use of force, by winning the majority of seats in parliament. Since 1967, the party has been in power in Tokyo.
Having spent about 40 years as the second political force in the country, in 1991 she took part in the creation of a coalition government, following the results of 2010, the party reduced its representation in the House of Councilors from five to four seats, and after the elections in 2014 there were only two deputies left at all.
Over the past few years, the party has suffered exclusively defeats in the elections. At the end of the 20th century, there was an attempt to renew the ideology, focusing on the desires and aspirations of the whole society, but the coalition with liberal democrats in 1996 had a detrimental effect on its image. Finding themselves in a position where they could have practically no influence on the current political process, socialists have recently been regularly forced to demonstrate their unprincipledness, which is expected to lead to a drop in voters' confidence.
Basically, the socialists in the elections are supported by peasants, the working class, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, a small part of the educated intelligentsia.
Democratic Party
Among the political parties in Japan, Democrats are considered the main opponents of the Liberal Democrats since 1998. This is one of the youngest political forces in the country, which was created only in 1998 by the merger of several opposition blocs.
In 2009, Democrats won the election of the main political parties in Japan, gaining the most seats in the houses of representatives and advisers. It was they who began to form the cabinet.
It is noteworthy that the Democrats, having the opportunity to form a one-party government, went to a coalition with several small structures. Party Chairman Yukio Hatoyama in 2009 became involved in a major corruption scandal, which led to a significant reduction in his rating. In 2010, he was forced to resign. The new leader was Naoto Kan.
The Kan cabinet has been repeatedly accused of ineffective work to deal with the consequences of the devastating tsunami and earthquake that occurred in Japan in 2011. A few months after this tragedy, the government resigned.
In 2012, Democrats have already ceased to be the leading party in Japan. They were defeated in the election, losing more than 170 seats. In 2016, Democrats were forced to unite with the Party of Innovations.
The main points of her program were the high social security of the population, administrative reform and the development of genuine democratic values.
The communists
The Communist Party of Japan is one of the oldest in the country, and until 1945 it had to remain in an illegal position. Interestingly, there are many women in its composition. It is considered one of the largest communist non-ruling parties in the world. Among its members about 350 thousand people.
It was created shortly after the October Revolution in Russia, in 1922 the first illegal congress in Tokyo took place. Almost immediately, against the members of the Communist Party, repression began. About a hundred people were arrested, and after the 1923 earthquake in Tokyo, the communists were accused of riots and fires. Komsomol chairman Kawai Ysitaro was killed. In 1928, the authorities officially declared the Communists illegal, and only for membership in the Communist Party could go to jail. In total, more than 75 thousand people were arrested before 1945 for communication with the Communists.
The party left the underground only in 1945. In the 1949 parliamentary elections, the left gained 35 seats in parliament, but the following year, in the conditions of the Cold War, the US occupation authorities again banned the party.
Election victory
They managed to return triumphantly in 1958, when the Communists won first place in parliament, then the influence of the structure only intensified. The leaders actively opposed the allied treaties between Japan and the United States, and called for the removal of American military bases from the country. At the same time, from the beginning of the 60s, Japanese communists began to distance themselves from the Soviet Union, declaring themselves to be an independent force. Moreover, drawing closer to the Chinese leadership, they began to criticize Kremlin policies.
The Japanese Communists reached their maximum influence in the late 80s. Moreover, after the collapse of the eastern bloc, the Japanese Communist Party did not dissolve its structure, change its name or ideological principles, criticizing the countries of Eastern Europe for abandoning socialism.
Now the party is in favor of the withdrawal of US troops from Japanese territory, the preservation in the Constitution of the provision on the prohibition of war, and also for the implementation of the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol. It remains the only one in parliament that requires Russia to return the Kuril Islands. In the political structure, he defends the ideas of the republican form of government, but nevertheless recognizes the emperor as the nominal head of state.
In recent years, six to seven million people have voted for her. In the elections in 2017, the party received almost 8% of the vote on party lists.
Komeito
Among modern political parties in Japan, the center-right Komeito party, founded by a Buddhist organization, stands out. She states that the main goal of politics is to benefit people. He sees his main tasks as decentralization of power, increasing transparency of cash flows, eradicating bureaucracy, expanding the autonomy of prefectures, and increasing the role of the private sector.
In foreign policy, the party advocates a pacifist course, demanding the renunciation of nuclear weapons. The predecessor of Komeito was a Buddhist party of the same name, but which had a more radical program and entered into an alliance with the socialists. The new party has more moderate views. It was founded in 1998.
In the parliamentary elections in 2004, she succeeded thanks to the good organization of the elections and high turnout. Basically, it is supported by villagers and white-collar workers. In addition, the structure is trusted by religious communities.
