The Effect of Electoral Reforms on Campaign Practices in Japan: Putting New Wine into Old Bottles

Abstract

In 1993, Japanese politics entered a period of turmoil and upheaval. Along with a variety of coalition governments and the creation of new political parties, promises of various types of reform have been legion. The first major reform of this period was the decision in 1994 to create a new election system for Japan. Reformers promised that the single-member districts of this new system would lead to the creation of two centrist political parties. They also promised that these two parties would contest elections based on issues, presenting voters a real choice between two mainstream parties. The results of the first election held under this system in 1996 raise doubts about the promised effects of the reforms. In a series of 49 interviews with politicians and campaign operatives conducted in seven of Japan's 47 prefectures, I found that politicians have not been campaigning based on issues. The promised change did not occur for three reasons. First is the continuity of many strict campaign regulations in Japan that make it difficult for candidates to make any general appeal (issue-oriented or otherwise) to the voters. Second, the drawing of district boundaries for the new single-member election districts created opportunities for politicians to switch parties opportunistically in order to secure a party nomination in their preferred district. This switching undercut the already weak claims of significant ideological or policy differences among the parties. Third, new district boundaries separated