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First-Past-the-Post With Proportional Representation System And Party Politics In Japan

Posted on:2009-12-12Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:H Q LinFull Text:PDF
GTID:1116360272478378Subject:Special History
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Drawing from the perspective of the Time Series Analysis, this paper seeks, via quantitative analysis on the outcome of the lower house elections since 1996, to explore the way Japan's electoral reform affects its party system and to arrive at an understanding, from the micro level, the orientation of transformation of Japan's party system after the demise of its "1955 system" under the post-1994 electoral system.In 1994, The National Diet of Japan passed a package of four bills aimed at political reforms, the core of which being the electoral system reform. The passage of these bills, ending as they did the six-year-contention in the nation's political arena, ushers in a new era in Japan's political system. While the electoral system reform targets the House of Representatives, it points in essence to the national power structure and is therefore the kernel element in political reform. On a global dimension, moreover, election is a pervasive socio-political phenomenon: it exists not only as an important constituent part of state political system, but as a medium for the representation of contemporary Western politics. A study of the democratic system under capitalism, therefore, could hardly be fruitfully conducted without an investigation into its electoral system. The formation of each of the party system in the Western countries, despite its idiosyncrasies, is in a great measure affected by its very underlying catalyzer—the electoral system.In China, the study of the post-World War II political system of Japan has often remained a focus of attention, and there is indeed a proliferation of researches in post-cold war Japanese political conservatism. Also enlightening is the increasingly sophisticated studies in recent years that approaches Japan's politics from the perspective of traditional political science. However, there has been, to the best of our knowledge, virtually a dearth of micro study of the effects Japan's electoral system have on its party politics. This paper, then, combines the fruits of scholarly studies of political science both at home and abroad with a careful analysis of vast amounts of collected data to broaden the study in this area. By utilizing the method of Time Series Analysis, it aims at a sustained scrutiny over the transformation of Japan's lower house election since the implementation of First-Past-the-Post with Proportional Representation System, including the patterns where diverse party house candidates are elected in their respective first-past-the-post and proportional voting system; the characteristics and general tendencies in the swing of the pendulum among separate party powers; and ultimately, the features of the metamorphosis of Japan's party politics and party system under the effects of electoral system reform.
Keywords/Search Tags:first-past-the-post and proportional representation system, electoral system, Japan's party politics
PDF Full Text Request
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