The Impacts On Faction Politics Of LDP To Japanese Diplomatic Decision-making In The Post-war Period

There are lots of factions in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan since its establishment. The factions of the LDP play a significant role in the political operation and decision-making mechanism of Japanese government. The LDP has been in power for a long term and during that period of time it acted as the single governor for 38 years in Japan, which has penetrated its faction politics deeply into every aspect of Japan's political process. The factions, which play a unique role in the political life of parties, were established with the profound historical and realistic background in Japan. They have been criticized severely. However, there is yet sign that they would disappear immediately.The thesis is based on the post-war Japanese diplomatic decision-making mechanism, uses theories and methods from western diplomat's decision science, and analyzes the diplomatic decision-making process of Japan's China Policy in 1970s. The writer combines theoretical analysis with case study and uses Bureaucratic Model in the thesis. The writer's analysis focuses on how the faction politics of LDP influences diplomatic decision-making of Japan in the post-war period via researching Japanese diplomatic decision-making process of the normalization of Sino-Japanese relations and negotiations about the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship.Through the study, we can find out that prime minister & cabinet is the core in the Japanese political system in the post-war period of time. And interactions among ruling party, financial circles and bureaucracy are the main domestic factors which influence diplomatic decision-making of the prime minister & cabinet. Then the DIET, Opposition Party, Medium & Public Opinion and Think Tank are minor domestic factors. The US-Japan alliance is an external factor which plays an important role in Japan's diplomatic decision-making process. The factions of LDP influence the prime minister & cabinet via influencing the LDP presidential election and controlling the party establishment through Members of Parliament who joined in the factions of LDP. Then the factions of LDP affect finally the result of diplomatic decision-making and the direction of foreign policy by subtle ways.The LDP and the Democratic Party will alternate in power in Japan, which will be an increasingly clear trend in the future. It is significant to study the relations between the factions and diplomatic decision-making, which will help us having a better understanding of decision-making mechanism of the Democratic Party. So as to achieve our national interests in the Sino-Japanese relation better.