The Rise and Fall of Japan's LDP: Political Party Organizations As Historical Institutions

After holding power continuously from its inception in 1955 (with the exception of a ten-month hiatus in 1993–1994), Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost control of the national government decisively in September 2009. Despite its defeat, the LDP remains the most successful political party in a democracy in the post–World War II period. In The Rise and Fall of Japan's LDP, Ellis S. Krauss and Robert J. Pekkanen shed light on the puzzle of the LDP's long dominance and abrupt defeat. Several questions about institutional change in party politics are at the core of their investigation: What incentives do different electoral systems provide? How do politicians adapt to new incentives? How much does structure determine behavior, and how much opportunity does structure give politicians to influence outcomes? How adaptable are established political organizations? The electoral system Japan established in 1955 resulted in a half-century of "one-party democracy." But as Krauss and Pekkanen detail, sweeping political reforms in 1994 changed voting rules and other key elements of the electoral system. Both the LDP and its adversaries had to adapt to a new system that gave citizens two votes: one for a party and one for a candidate. Under the leadership of the charismatic Koizumi Junichiro, the LDP managed to maintain its majority in the Japanese Diet, but his successors lost popular support as opposing parties learned how to operate in the new electoral environment. Drawing on the insights of historical institutionalism, Krauss and Pekkanen explain how Japanese politics functioned before and after the 1994 reform and why the persistence of party institutions (factions, PARC, koenkai) and the transformed role of party leadership contributed both to the LDP's success at remaining in power for fifteen years after the reforms and to its eventual downfall. In an epilogue, the authors assess the LDP's prospects in the near and medium term.

Table of Contents:
1. The Liberal Democratic Party in Time 2. The Koenkai: Origin and Development of a Vote-Mobilization Machine 3. The Koenkai Today: Institutional Change 4. Factions under the Single Nontransferable Vote Mixed-Member District System 5. Factions Today 6. The Policy Affairs Research Council and Policymaking under the '55 System 7. The Policy Affairs Research Council after Reform 8. Party Leadership in the '55 System 9. The Changing Role of Party Leadership 10. The Liberal Democratic Party out of Time? Coded Interviews References Index

About the Author :
Ellis S. Krauss is Professor in the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of Broadcasting Politics in Japan: NHK and Television News, also from Cornell. Robert J. Pekkanen is Associate Professor and Chair of the Japan Studies program in the Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, and author of Japan's Dual Civil Society: Members without Advocates.

Review :
"With their colorful detail and examples in this book ... Krauss and Pekkanen have given us the definitive examination of the ways in which politics has changed since the seminal electoral reforms of the 1990s."-Leonard Schoppa, Perspectives on Politics (March 2013) "Krauss and Pekkanen's study is not about defeat, but survival ... taking issue with more conventional and-their term-deductive interpretations of the LDP, and ... with those who loaded most of the explanation of the LDP's character and development on the nature of the SNTV MMD electoral system... In short, Krauss and Pekkanen take aim at most of the conventional literature on the LDP and score a palpable hit. This is a convincing and persuasive analysis... It goes without question that any scholar interested in the workings of Japanese party politics will also clearly benefit from this book. It is a major achievement."-Peter Mair, Japanese Journal of Political Science (March 2012) "This is, in my view, the best book ever written on the Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Ellis S. Krauss and Robert J. Pekkanen have done incredibly careful and comprehensive research that they use to develop insightful and original analysis. The writing style will appeal to both those with and without technical political science skills. This book will be of interest to all scholars working on political parties and institutions. It is a must-read for anyone with an interest in Japanese politics, and it is a great text to use in any course taught on Japanese politics."-Ethan Scheiner, UC Davis "Why did the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) suddenly lose its semipermanent stranglehold as Japan's dominant party? And yet, why do factions, koenkai, and the PARC of the LDP still persist even to this day as those party institutions were supposed to vanish after Japan's fundamental electoral reform of 1994? Ellis S. Krauss and Robert J. Pekkanen elegantly solve these puzzles in the most comprehensive and systematic study of the LDP ever. The authors open the theoretical toolbox of historical institutionalism and skillfully utilize concepts such as complementary institutions, sequencing, and negative externalities; employ multiple methodologies; and uncover powerful empirical evidence. The appealing result is an overwhelmingly compelling and insightful analysis of Japanese politics. This magnificent work is more than a must-read for anyone interested in the LDP and Japan. It will certainly become a classic."-Yutaka Tsujinaka, University of Tsukuba "Ellis S. Krauss and Robert J. Pekkanen have written a timely and important book. As the Liberal Democratic Party searches for its own identity in the early twenty-first century, The Rise and Fall of Japan's LDP gives us a fine historical sketch of how it managed to stay in office so long and what made it so powerful. In its sophisticated application of Historical Institutionalism, this book offers important insights into both what has made Japanese politics unique and why institutional change is so difficult to achieve. Krauss and Pekkanen have thus written a book that should be of intense interest to both political scientists and political leaders curious about Japan's past and future."-Sven Steinmo, European University Institute "This book is likely to become the reference on the LDP and electoral politics in Japan. The Rise and Fall of Japan's LDP is built around terrific insights, which, I am convinced, are correct. Ellis S. Krauss and Robert J. Pekkanen turn much of the literature on Japan on its head through an extremely meticulous and unprecedented empirical analysis of all key institutions of the LDP. They also back that up with a systematic and coherent theoretical framework rooted in historical institutionalism. The book is superb, very coherent, and probably correct in all its findings. It will shake and change the field of Japanese politics and become a core classic."-Yves Tiberghien, University of British Columbia "This book will, I think, become a classic in the study of Japanese politics. It will be widely read and cited for a long time. I heartily applaud the application of historical institutionalism. The static mechanical theories, the strong deductive models that the authors refer to and are currently in vogue simply do not work. Political science will only become scientific if we take time seriously."-Steven R. Reed, Chuo University "In this excellent book the authors examine the inner workings of the LDP since it was established in 1955, a critically important topic given its dominant role in Japanese politics until 2009. It is a fascinating analysis of the institutions within the LDP and how they evolved over time."-Jeff Kingston, The Japan Times, 6 March 2011 "The greatest merit of this book is its comprehensive empirical underpinning, enabling the authors to overturn celebrated misapprehensions about Japanese politics. It is indeed a truly magisterial piece of work."-Arthur Stockwin, Journal of Japanese Studies "I am on record-on the back of their book cover-as saying that Ellis Krauss and Robert Pekkanen's The Rise and Fall of Japan's LDP is 'the best book ever written on Japan's Liberal Democratic Party.' Despite the passage of a full year since I wrote the blurb, my enthusiasm for the book has not dulled."-Ethan Scheiner, Social Science Japan Journal "This book demonstrates the limits of comparative statics approaches. Even long-time students of Japanese party politics will profit from this book."-Mike Thies, Party Politics "When I first looked at this book, I was put off by the effusive praise of the reviews posted prominently on the back book cover. 'Best book ever written,' 'magnificent work will certainly become a classic,' 'likely to become the reference,' and 'this book will, I think, become a classic' all struck me as perhaps a bit strong in praise of this book. Thus I was surprised at my reaction after having read the book; I agreed with their hearty praise."-Ray Christensen, Pacific Affairs