Japanese Politics and Culture - Essay Example

? Japanese Politics and Culture and Number Introduction In 2007 political scandal resulted in the suicide of Matsuoka Toshikatsu, Japan’s Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Though this is a rare occurrence corruption is a constant and prevailing factor in Japanese politics. As a member of the prior ruling liberal democratic party he was extremely influential and involved in bureaucrat led-bid-rigging and political donations from public works contractors to Diet members, allowing opportunity for political expenditures to be hidden used for activities such as vote buying. Shortly before his appointment to be questioned by the House of Counselors’ Budget Committee regarding the misappropriation of political funds Toshikatsu took his own life, followed the next day by associate Yamazaki Shinichi, directly connected to the bid-rigging scandal (Mulgan). This action began the end of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party while the Democratic Party of Japan gained strength. While this is Japan’s immediate and recent history it is no way an indicator of the previous political climates that Japan has underwent. Japan, despite political turmoil and corruption continues to be one of the world’s leading democratic powers and an examination of Japan’s political history will explain how Japan became such a giant among Nations. The Liberal Democratic Party Though the Liberal Democratic Party lost the election in 2009, they continuously remained in power since 1955, formed by the merger of two small conservative parties (Krauss). Without an understanding of the LDP it would be impossible to comprehend the politics and policy of Japan which is the world’s second largest economies. The only other world political party that has managed to hold office and control for such a long period of time is Sweden’s Social Democratic Party, which primarily shared power in a coalition government and continues to do so since 1932, with few short periods of time when they were not in power. The LDP prioritize human rights, liberty, democracy, and the parliamentary system (MK). One reason suggested for the long running success of the LDP is the established Japanese koenkai, which are used in election campaigning. Electoral System The Koenkai formed during the post war period and can be described as a personal support group for political candidates and those in office. They are formed by the candidates themselves and not the particular party and involve personal acquaintances of every nature and are maintained through the use of personal gestures such as cards and visits which can become expensive for the candidate. It is this expense that led to the creation of what are known as factions. Many actually inherit their koenkai and in 2011 72% of the hereditary candidates were elected to office with the benefit of their koenkai (Neary, p72). The koenkai formation represented an innovative and unique resolution in campaign strategy rather than relying on local politicians and community leaders. Politicians formed the koenkai in response to an inability of aforementioned politicians and leaders to gather enough votes to allow them to win the election. Local politicians are usually made officers of a candidates koenkai, local assemblymen serve as chapter presidents and these koenkai can easily include thousands of members with an example being Nakasone, whose koenkai numbers 50,000 (Curtis, p130). Local politicians give the koenkai a feel of democracy in a mass membership organization and when given titles such as federation chief it becomes more difficult for them to switch their loyalty to another candidate. Their primary function is no longer to gather votes but to add prestige to the koenkai. These koenkai will consist of many groups, including women and youth and other special interest populations. The idea is maintained that it is the will of the people who allow the official to become elected and helps to ensure equal distribution of wealth and income which Japan has become known for. Japan adopted a new electoral system in 1994, relying less upon factions. Factions are actual large organizations formed around a candidate and under the adopted electoral system they have become weaker and no longer necessary for a candidate to be elected. The LDP was not exactly a single organization but a conglomeration of numerous factions and faction leaders were usually previous LDP politicians, many who had served as prime ministers. Faction members provided financial assistance during expensive campaigns and introduced followers to influential leaders, bureaucrats and business people (Japan…). The difference in factions and the koenkai is that the koenkai are comprised of local support groups, which when combined are as important if not more important to the electoral candidate’s success. Koenkai function year round with cultural and education events and through these ‘non-political’ events many rural votes are gained for the candidate. Factions were highly criticized by the press though without factional backing a candidate would find it impossible to reach or obtain high offices. The system used by Japan in creating close and sometimes personal bonds in the desire for election is known as Clientelism. These bonds are created through personal favor and often monetary reward which places a burden on opposing political parties, and those which are new have very little chance of success, especially with koenkai being inherited from generation to generation. Prior to 1994 Japan used a single non-transferable vote/multi member district (SNTV/MMD) electoral system. Many scholars attribute the LDP’s success to this process (Baker). SNTV/MMD was used in Japans House of Representatives elections from 1947 through 1993. Each individual votes with one ballot and the vote is not transferable to other candidates or the candidates party and M represents the number of seats within the district and those M candidates with the greatest amount of votes wins seats. Possible problems with this method were over nomination, under nomination, and vote division errors. Mal-apportionment in the electoral system occurred when migration patterns and influxes of new population or decreases in population did not match the amount of seats a rural area was given. The Countryside was over represented in Diet elections between the late fifties through the late 1990’s meaning rural votes were worth almost twice those in the city. Though this fact could suggest that more proper and equal proportioning would alter the vote it should be considered that with changing circumstance the candidates will also change strategy to better match the election system. Parties are very adaptive and to suggest that if the seats accurately reflected each population the outcome would change then one must also suggest what the party’s adapted response would be. Electoral Reform A new mixed member system replaced the SNTV/MMD electoral system in 1994 which combined plurality voting in single member districts for 300 seats with regional closed list proportional representation for the remaining 200 seats (Lundberg). Public funding of election campaigns was also introduced in 1994. Smaller parties were able to win some seats under the previous system; possibly due to mal-apportionment, while they resisted attempts by the LDP to reform the process in a way that would have been more majoritarian. LDP candidates competed against each other they often on personal levels, unable to compete on policy. This fact is one that the press and critics has attributed to corruption and the continuation of Clientelism within Japan. Government Structure Today Currently there are five major factions in the LDP, each referred to by the name of their current leaders, with four smaller factions existing. These factions have much less power now and loyalty has become less personal through generations and relationships more formal. The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) does not use or rely on factions though they do have loyal groups of supporters. The LDP has always placed a much higher level of importance on maintaining their factions though they are decreasing now. Family relation seems to be an important connection in parliament with many Diet members being children or grandchildren of previous Diet members. Almost all members of the LDP elected in either house are members of a faction. The Democratic party of Japan which now holds control and power within the government was formed in 1998 through the merge of four smaller independent parties who were each in opposition of the LDP. The DPJ took more than 300 of the 480 seats within the two houses, unable to maintain the upper house as they have for many years. Obviously Japanese voters became receptive to change when usually it not custom in Japan for citizens to become overly involved in bureaucracy and government. Japanese parliament is known as the Diet, containing a House of Representatives and a House of Councilor’s. These members are those that are elected in the electoral process. The legislature, or the Diet, is the highest State power in Japan and the only law creating sector within the Japanese government based on the Constitution (The Structure…). They create the National budget and elect the Prime Minister of Japan. Similar to the President within The United States, the Prime Minister is the ruling authority though he/she is selected rather than voted into office. Japanese citizens may vote at age 20 and the minimum age to run for office is 25 for the House of Representatives and 30 for the House of Councilor’s. The House of Representatives is considered the more powerful of the two though they both have equal important roles. The Diet must meet at least once a year and the capital building is located in Tokyo. The Prime Minister Heads the Cabinet and appoints other Ministers to office within the Cabinet. The Cabinet is known as the Kantei. Japan is considered a hierarchical society which means that social standing is something that is very important in the way that people interact with each other. They seek out information about each other in order to appropriately respond in a way that respects and acknowledges each other’s positions in society. Most conversations will include a degree of respect and deference on one part or the other which is why they seek to determine standing at the onset. There is a strong tendency towards group order and belonging with a group which may lend itself to the political success of the koenkai. Nihonjinron The theory of Japanese uniqueness is known as Nihonjinron and homogeneity is an important factor in their ideology. Both agency and communion are long time elements of Japanese tradition with agency referring to being differentiated while communion refers to being part of a larger society and spiritual union (Gjerde). In comparison with more Western civilizations they have been described as lacking a mature ego, as preferring harmony over conflict and being very much part of intergroup relations. They remain very aware of their racial homogeneity and exclusiveness, demonstrated by the fact that though there is a huge population of Korean immigrants in Japan it is highly unusual for these two races to socialize. Racism as known in the United States would be unlikely to be the descriptive term used in Japan as attitudes and outward behaviors towards each other in society is much different. N Nihonjinron has evaded every aspect of Japanese culture, from their music to their television and social media. Some critics feel that the use of this word and the ideal comes solely as the basis of an undermined attempt to describe the Japanese culture as being extremely racist though the fact that their citizenry has remained so homogenous throughout history suggests that this is more likely culture and heredity. Dependency theory of the Japanese explains that as a people they are taught from a young age to remain dependent, dutiful, and submissive to not only their government but also their job and other authority figures and situations. One remnant of history remains, which is bowing to each other, left over from feudalism. Feudalism taught Japanese to obey and honor superiors, showing deference to those with higher stations in life. Conclusion Through multiple studies and suggestions there are many possibilities for the long running success of the LDP. Clientelism, the prior electoral system of SNTV/MMD, factions and koenkai, and the preference of the Japanese people to remain within groups may be all strong contributing factors. The Clientelism obviously has led to corruption and essentially makes it much easier to conduct bid-rigging and vote buying as suggested, which led to the suicide of Toshikatsu two years before the LDP lost political power. With the DJP in place it is too soon to know what successes they will create within the government or if they will be able to maintain their power. Naoto Kan, previous Prime Minister, was the sixth Prime Minister in a five year period to be replaced, after his mishandling of the Tsunami disaster that occurred in 2011 and the disaster occurring with the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Critics believe the Country’s Democracy has reached a very low level in the recent preceding years and that Japan has become one of those most affected by financial crisis with the GDP below 5% (Inman). Foreign investors will now have more opportunity within Japan whom has previously owned 95% of their own debt. These factors combined with the relatively new ruling party make Japan a very unstable power at the current time. Annotated Bibliography Mulgan, A. G. (2009). The Perils of Japanese Politics. Japan Forum, July, 183-207. Retrieved 2012, from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.proxy.cecybrary.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4 This article describes Japans scandal involving the Minister of Agriculture, Matsuoka Toshikatsu, which began the end of the Liberal Democratic Party within Japan. Source evaluates facts leading up to Matsuokas' suicide and subsequent investigations into the corruption of Japanese politics, including bid-rigging within the Department of Agriculture and vote buying. Krauss, E. S., & Pekkanen, R. (2011). The Rise and Fall of Japan's LDP. Retrieved 2012, from http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100734570 Book available partially online describing the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan and how it began and how they were able to maintain office for such a great length of time. Great detailed explanations of the political system and analysis of the formation of the LDP. Curtis, G. (1971). Election campaigning, Japanese style - Gerald L. Curtis. Google Books. Retrieved 2012, from http://books.google.com/books?id=MmlEeUhwmWsC This book is available partially online and provides an extensive explanation of the Japanese Koenkai including formation, and structure. Baker, A., & Scheiner, E. (2007). Electoral System Effects and Ruling Party Dominance in Japan: A Counterfactual Simulation Based on Adaptive Parties. Colorado Edu. Retrieved 2012, from http://spot.colorado.edu/~bakerab/Electoral%20System%20Effects.pdf Article focuses on Japans electoral systems and offers a counterfactual simulation of electoral outcomes. Works Cited Mulgan, A. (2009). The perils of Japanese politics. Japan Forum, 21(2), 183-207. doi:10.1080/09555801003679108 MK. (1998, July 14). Political Parties in Japan: 1874-1998. Kanzaki. Retrieved 2012, from http://www.kanzaki.com/jinfo/PoliticalParties.html Neary, I. (2002). The State and politics in Japan - Ian Neary. Google Books. Retrieved 2012, from http://books.google.com/books?id=BJ6Da5NWR3gC Japan - THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY. (n.d.). Country Studies. Retrieved 2012, from http://Countrystudies.us/japan/122.htm Lundberg, T. (1995). Electoral Reform in Japan? FairVote - Home. Retrieved 2012, from http://archive.fairvote.org/reports/1995/chp7/lundberg.html The Structure and Organization of the Legislative Branch and House of Councillors of Japan. (2012). Currency Converter Calculator and Foreign Money Exchange Rates. Retrieved 2012, from http://www.gocurrency.com/articles/stories-japan-Diet.htm Inman, P. (2011, August 24). Japan's politics begin to hurt the economy | Business | The Guardian. Latest News, Sport and Comment from the Guardian | The Guardian. Retrieved 2012, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/aug/24/viewpoint-japan-european-debt-crisis Gjerde, P. F., & Onishi, M. (2000). Selves, Cultures, and Nations: The Psychological Imagination of ‘the Japanese’ in the Era of Globalization. Human Development (0018716X), 43(4/5), 216-226. doi:10.1159/000022679 Read More