Is parliamentary democracy functioning in Japan? Similar to other advanced industrialized countries worldwide, Japan is also witnessing political phenomena, such as the decline of electoral and party politics. My research explores this aspect, with a focus on political parties and party systems.

Is Japanese Politics Becoming Presidentialized?

As indicated by the “presidentialization thesis” in comparative politics, examples of unprecedentedly strong prime ministerial leadership in Western democracies, such as the UK and Germany is frequently observed. This discussion explains cases wherein a prime minister can behave like a president in a presidential system, despite the adoption of a parliamentary system. Is presidentialization a phenomenon found only in Western countries, or is it also observed in other non-Western countries? Particularly, can presidentialization be observed in Japanese politics, and if so, under what circumstances? Since I translated a book by Professor Paul Webb, a leading political scientist in the study of presidentialization, into Japanese during my overseas research at the University of Sussex in the UK in 2013-2014, we have become close friends. I have been focusing on this issue and the leadership of successive prime ministers in conducting research on the presidentialization of politics in Japan. The five-year leadership of Junichiro Koizumi, who became prime minister at the beginning of this century, was a classic case of presidentialization. Shinzo Abe, who relinquished his long-term control of the government in the fall of 2020, can also be seen as a case of presidentialization in many ways.

Is Party Politics in Japan Abnormal?

Is it because the Japanese democracy is not functioning properly that a prime minister finds it possible to be in control for a long time and act like a president? Or is democracy in Japan different from the Western democracies? In Japan, since World War II, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been in control over a long period of time. Despite changes in the government, the fact that the LDP, a conservative party, has been in power for the majority of the period from 1955 to the present. From a global perspective, such instances are rare. Of course, in non-democratic countries, one-party rule is the norm, but in a democracy, it is a very rare for one party to be in control for more than half a century. Thus, the question arises as to whether party politics in Japan is abnormal. However, according to research on party organization and party systems, Japanese party politics, while distinctive, is not unique. In my comparative analysis with cases outside Japan, I plan to show that Japanese democracy is functional by explaining the differences and presenting similarities. Since the time Professor Thomas Poguntke of the University of Düsseldorf in Germany was invited by Japan’s Nihon University in 2019, I have been working with him, and “Parliamentary Democracy at the Crossroad” is our research theme.

Profile

Masahiro IWASAKI

Masahiro IWASAKI, Ph. D (Political Science) Professor of Comparative Politics, College of Law, Nihon University. His activities extend into three fields; he teaches “Comparative Politics” and “Contemporary Political Theory” in Nihon University where he serves as a professor and director of the Political Science and Economics Institute, and he holds president’s chair in the Japan Association for Comparative Politics (2021 - present). The major area is “Comparative Politics.” He covers wide area in political science such as political parties, election, democracy, and governance. He also published books on public policy, democratization, and parliamentary democracy, etc. He has recently led research projects on “Post-Globalization and Changing Nation States.”

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