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Essay:
Comparing the Japanese and American Electoral Systems
Japan has a democratic system of government as does the United States.
The electoral system in Japan is different, however.
The Diet
In Japan, representatives are elected to the national parliament, the
Diet. The Diet is divided into an upper house (the House of Councillors)
and a lower house (the House of Representatives). The lower house is
the more powerful of the two. If the upper house rejects a bill passed
by the lower house, it becomes law if passed again by the lower house
in a two-thirds vote. Because Japan has a parliamentary political system
like that of England, members of the House of Representatives elect a
prime minister from among themselves by majority vote. The prime minister
is usually a leader of the majority party. The prime minister is the
head of the government. To help him direct the government, the prime
minister forms a cabinet made up of people who are his political allies.
The Electoral System
The Japanese electoral system is very different from the American electoral
system. The House of Representatives in Japan has 500 members, who are
elected for a four-year term. Three hundred of these members come from
single-seat constituencies, meaning that, as in the United States, voters
in a given district have one vote, and the candidate who receives the
most votes wins and becomes the sole representative of that district.
However, the remaining 200 members of Japan's House of Representatives
are elected by proportional representation in 11 regional blocs. Under
a proportional representation system, voters in a given region vote not
for an individual candidate, but for a party. The number of Diet seats
that a party receives is based on the percentage of votes that it receives.
Each party gives its seats to its top candidates, who are ranked from
highest to lowest prior to elections. Thus, for example, in a district
with 20 seats available, if a party running 25 candidates gets 50 percent
of the vote, the party gets 10 seats in principle and gives them to the
top 10 candidates on its list.
The House of Councillors (upper house) has 252 members, who are elected
for six-year terms. Elections are held for half of all upper house seats
every three years. Thus, for example, elections will be held in 1998
to fill 126 upper house seats; then in 2001, there will be another set
of elections to fill the remaining 126 upper house seats. In every House
of Councillors election (with 126 seats at stake), 24 politicians are
elected from single-seat constituencies, 52 are elected from multi-seat
constituencies, and 50 are elected by proportional representation In
a multi-seat constituency, there are 3-5 representatives in each district
(as opposed to just one, as is the case in the U.S.), so in an election
the 3-5 top votegetters are all "winners." Each voter still
only has one vote. Thus, for example, in a three-member district with
candidates A, B, C, D, and E running for election, the winners would
be B with 52 percent of the vote, C with 25 percent of the vote, and
E with 10 percent of the vote. A with 7 percent and D with 6 percent
of the vote would not win seats.
Methods of Campaigning and Electoral Reform
Because the election system is different, Japanese election candidates
have different problems and use different methods from those of American
candidates.
Kôenkai (Personal Support Groups)
Because Japanese political
parties have traditionally been weak organizationally and have few rank
and file members, individual candidates cannot rely heavily on their
parties for electoral support. Instead, candidates will often try to
build a personal organization of supporters (a kôenkai) among voters
in their districts. Candidates encourage people to join their personal
support groups by doing them small favors — helping their children
get into a good school or get a good job, sending flowers if they open
a new store, sending them cards on holidays — and by financing
kôenkai
parties and vacation trips. Candidates also try to recruit leaders of
local organizations, such as agricultural cooperatives, temple associations,
small and medium-sized business groups, and women's groups, in the hope
that they will encourage their members to join the kôenkai and
vote for the candidate in elections.
Campaign Rules
There is strict government control over campaigns. Candidates
are allowed only one campaign car and a small number of posters and other
printed material. The campaign itself lasts only 12 days. In American
elections, many candidates pay for television and radio commercials to
communicate with the voters. Strict rules in Japan control such advertisements,
and candidates are only allowed a few, government-financed commercials
or television appearances. They thus spend less money than American candidates
on commercials but more on their personal support organizations. As in
the United States, elections in Japan can be very expensive for the candidates.
Electoral Reform
In 1993, the conservative Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP) temporarily lost control of its Diet majority — hence losing
control of the government — because some LDP members defected from
the party and formed a new party. This was a very significant event because
up until that point, the LDP had controlled the government for almost
40 years without interruption. A long period of political realignment
ensued after 1993, even though the LDP regained control of the government
in 1994. Many small new political parties sprang up, then disappeared
or merged with other parties, while some existing parties, such as the
Japan Socialist Party, renamed themselves in an effort to change with
the changing times.
Perhaps the most important result of the LDP's temporary loss of power
was the coalition government's reform of the election system, enacted
in 1994. The reformers' primary goal was to create a system in which
there are two main parties that regularly alternate power, as is the
case in the United States. Up until that time, the Japanese system has
consisted of one lopsidedly large party (the LDP) dominating three or
four smaller opposition parties that were never able to win control of
the government.
However, the reformers were forced to make political compromises that
allowed certain aspects of the old system to remain. Consequently, many
analysts do not believe that the electoral reforms will lead to the creation
of a two-party system. |
