scholarly journals The Party System in Contemporary Japan: from the LDP Dominance to a Real Multiparty System

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 120-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. V. STRELTSOV
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Power ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Capitalist System ◽  
Political Force ◽  
Coalition Governments

In the political system of post-war Japan there emerged a unique phenomenon of the ‘1955 system’, which contradicted, in its  form and in its essence, to the principle of the changeability of power inherent for the democratic systems. The Liberal-Democratic  Party retained majority in the lower house of Diet for the 38-year period, which allowed it to form the government without joining coalitions with any other parties. “The 1955 system” was a form of  adaptation of the political power to the specific conditions of cold war era. In the sphere of foreign policy, the bipolar model of the  Japanese political system reflected the ideological choice between  the capitalist system led by the United States and the socialist  system led by the USSR. In the economic sphere, the dominant  party system was the most appropriate response to the specific  needs of the mobilization economic model, in which first fiddle was played by bureaucracy, whilst the political power performed  rather decorative functions. The authoritarian features in the LDP  power system that can be imagined to be the result of its  monopolistic rule, in reality did not have a distinct manifestation because of the de facto absence of unity in its top  management and the preservation of a viable faction system well  adapted to the electoral model of the multimember  districts. The  end of ‘the 1955 system’, associated with the end of the cold war,  manifested itself in the loss of the LDP’s dominant position in the  party system and in the beginning of the era of coalition  governments. The issues of ideology in the post-bipolar period lost  their significance as a form of axis in the inter-party division. Currently, the LDP holds the leading positions in the political arena  as the main political force in the Diet. The ruling party faces serious  problems, among which one can mention the decline of the LDP  authority in the Japanese society against the background of resonant  political scandals, the absence of intra-party democracy  and the authoritarian style of Abe’s rule which raises the risks of  political mistakes, as well as the lack of reliable mechanisms of  succession of senior positions in the party hierarchy. However, the  specificity of the electoral system, as well as the chronic state of split and the absence of strong political leaders in the opposition camp,  give the LDP substantial advantages against other parties, feeding  the conclusion that the LDP will remain the dominant political force  of Japan in the foreseeable future.

The Politics of Financialization in the United States, 1949–2005

2014 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Witko
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Political Power ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Financial Industry ◽  
Financial Activity ◽  
Financial Deregulation

Financial activity has become increasingly important in affluent economies in recent decades. Because this ‘financialization’ distributes costs and benefits unevenly across groups, politics and policy likely affect the process. Therefore, this article discusses how changes in the power of organizations representing the ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ of financialization affect its pace. An analysis of the United States from 1949–2005, shows that when unions are stronger, and when the Democratic Party is in power and is more reliant on the support of working-class voters, financialization is slower. In contrast, when the financial industry is more highly mobilized into politics, financialization is faster. The study also finds that financial deregulation was one policy translating the political power of these actors into economic outcomes.

Mexico's One-Party System: A Re-evaluation

1957 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 995-1008 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Vincent Padgett
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ideological Bias ◽  
System A ◽  
Revolutionary Party ◽  
The Republic

Because Mexican politics since the Revolution of 1910–17 have operated mainly within the framework of a one-party system and because in the past strong men have sometimes occupied the presidency, writers in the United States have tended to treat the system as authoritarian. Emphasis upon presidential rule and the corollary explanation of the role of the Revolutionary Party as nothing more nor less than an instrument of presidential domination have served to create an oversimplified picture of presidential power. It is the purpose of this paper to outline at least four checkpoints on which the authoritarian interpretation seems to have involved miscalculation of the realities of the Mexican political system. The nature of membership in the “official” party, the degree of centralization within and without the party structure, the threefold role of the party within the political system, and the ideological bias of the political elite all seem to indicate the necessity of a re-evaluation of the politics of the republic on our southern border.

Parliamentary Government or One Party Dictatorship? The Case of Sri Lanka

1982 ◽  
Vol 38 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 267-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.A. Wiswa WarNapala
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Parliamentary Government ◽  
Parliamentary System ◽  
Westminster Model ◽  
Electoral Change

The comparative parliamentary stability which Sri Lanka has been experiencing in the last three decades has been attributed to the strength of the country's political system. Some observers refer to “the survival of something close to a two-party parliamentary system, where the two major political parties, more often in association with the fragmented Left and the disintegrating commimalist forces, compete for political power.”1 The electoral changes in the period 1956–77 explain the existence of a two party system unique in character; it was this phenomenon which assisted in the working of a comparatively stable political system in the island. Despite the divergent ideologies which the political parties professed, they perhaps were committed to the orthodox characteristics of the Westminster model. Marxists were even more adamant than their political enemies in insisting on the observance of the rules, procedures and conventions of the parliamentary game of politics.2 The 1977 electoral change and the subsequent political developments brought about a decline in the system of parliamentary government in Sri Lanka. The dim of this essay is to substantiate this view.

Political Parties and the Political System in Iraqi Kurdistan

2020 ◽  
pp. 002190962094154
Author(s):  
Hawre Hasan Hama ◽  
Farhad hassan abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Charismatic Leadership ◽  
The Political ◽  
Main Argument ◽  
Kurdistan Region ◽  
Iraqi Kurdistan

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq has a multi-party system which has been held up as a model for democratic pluralism in the whole region. The nature of Kurdistan’s political parties is strongly related to the position of Kurds in Iraq. From the mid-twentieth century, the dominant Kurdish political party in Iraq was the Kurdistan Democratic Party; in a later partisan split the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan was born. Moreover, in the last three decades other political parties have come into being, which have all influenced the characteristics of Iraqi Kurdistan’s political system. This paper’s main argument is that Iraqi Kurdistan shares many of the characteristics of its main political parties, including reliance on charismatic leadership, a focus on nationalism, and the lack of transparency. This paper analyzes the primary characteristics of the Kurdish political parties and their influence on the institutional functions of the political system in the Kurdistan Region.

Bipartisanship as Possible Alternative of Russian Political System Evolution

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 256-265
Author(s):  
Konstantin V. Simonov ◽  
Stanislav P. Mitrakhovich
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
The United States ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Complex Structures ◽  
Practical Advice ◽  
Simultaneous Separation

The article examines the possibility of transfer to bipartisan system in Russia. The authors assess the benefits of the two-party system that include first of all the ensuring of actual political competition and authority alternativeness with simultaneous separation of minute non-system forces that may contribute to the country destabilization. The authors analyze the accompanying risks and show that the concept of the two-party system as the catalyst of elite schism is mostly exaggerated. The authors pay separate attention to the experience of bipartisan system implementation in other countries, including the United States. They offer detailed analysis of the generated concept of the bipartisanship crisis and show that this point of view doesn’t quite agree with the current political practice. The authors also examine the foreign experience of the single-party system. They show that the success of the said system is mostly insubstantial, besides many of such systems have altered into more complex structures, while commentators very often use not the actual information but the established myths about this or that country. The authors also offer practical advice regarding the potential technologies of transition to the bipartisan system in Russia.

Challenges of the parliamentary system in Iraq after 2003

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Emad Wakaa Ajil
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The United States ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
The Political ◽  
Parliamentary System ◽  
Political Transformations ◽  
The Us ◽  
Long Time

Iraq is one of the most Arab countries where the system of government has undergone major political transformations and violent events since the emergence of the modern Iraqi state in 1921 and up to the present. It began with the monarchy and the transformation of the regime into the republican system in 1958. In the republican system, Continued until 2003, and after the US occupation of Iraq in 2003, the regime changed from presidential to parliamentary system, and the parliamentary experience is a modern experience for Iraq, as he lived for a long time without parliamentary experience, what existed before 2003, can not be a parliamentary experience , The experience righteousness The study of the parliamentary system in particular and the political process in general has not been easy, because it is a complex and complex process that concerns the political system and its internal and external environment, both of which are influential in the political system and thus on the political process as a whole, After the US occupation of Iraq, the United States intervened to establish a permanent constitution for the country. Despite all the circumstances accompanying the drafting of the constitution, it is the first constitution to be drafted by an elected Constituent Assembly. The Iraqi Constitution adopted the parliamentary system of government and approved the principle of flexible separation of powers in order to achieve cooperation and balance between the authorities.

The Internal Stakes of the 2005 Elections: The Struggle for Influence in Egypt's National Democratic Party

2007 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-111
Author(s):  
Virginie Collombier
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
The Future ◽  
External Actors ◽  
First Time

Beyond the relative opening of the political system that characterized 2005 in Egypt — with the President being elected directly for the first time and the increased competition allowed during legislative elections — the 2005 elections also constituted an opportunity to consider and evaluate the internal struggles for influence under way within the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). In a context largely influenced by the perspective of President Husni Mubarak's succession and by calls for reform coming from both internal and external actors, changes currently occurring at the party level may have a decisive impact on the future of the Egyptian regime.

Back to the Westminster model? The Brexit process and the UK political system

2021 ◽  
pp. 019251212096737
Author(s):  
Gianfranco Baldini ◽  
Edoardo Bressanelli ◽  
Emanuele Massetti
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Westminster Model ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Quantitative Indicators ◽  
The Impact

This article investigates the impact of Brexit on the British political system. By critically engaging with the conceptualisation of the Westminster model proposed by Arend Lijphart, it analyses the strains of Brexit on three dimensions developed from from Lijphart’s framework: elections and the party system, executive– legislative dynamics and the relationship between central and devolved administrations. Supplementing quantitative indicators with an in-depth qualitative analysis, the article shows that the process of Brexit has ultimately reaffirmed, with some important caveats, key features of the Westminster model: the resilience of the two-party system, executive dominance over Parliament and the unitary character of the political system. Inheriting a context marked by the progressive weakening of key majoritarian features of the political system, the Brexit process has brought back some of the traditional executive power-hoarding dynamics. Yet, this prevailing trend has created strains and resistances that keep the political process open to different developments.

Division de pouvoir et intégration social: de Montesquieu à la crise actuelle du parlementarisme

1968 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-269
Author(s):  
André Vachet
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Parliamentary Democracy ◽  
Social Division ◽  
Western Democracy ◽  
Vital Forces

Division of power and social integrationExplanation of some of the recent challenges to western democracy may be found in a re-examination of Montesquieu's thought. Here we find the theory of the separation of power to be far more complex than is implied in the simple divisions of legislature, executive, and judiciary. For Montesquieu, the separation of power is more a social division than a political or juridical one. He contemplated returning the organs of political power to various social forces, e.g. monarchy, aristocracy, and bourgeoisie, and that then the self-assertion of forces would be restrained by the resistance of other social groups. The realization of its goals would require every important social group to integrate itself both to society and to the state and to seek its goals through realization of the general good.Since Montesquieu's time, political structures would seem to have been very little changed even though social structures have been greatly altered by the rise of economic powers. Political institutions have been losing touch with the vital forces of society and these have had to find other channels of expression. The personalization of power, the rise of the executive, violence, and increasing paternalism may be viewed as phenomena of compensation by which attempts are being made to bridge the gap between the structures of political power and those of a society which has been restructured.Revigoration of parliamentary democracy would seem to require that all vital social forces be reintegrated into the political system and be given meaningful channels of political expression. Failure to make such changes opens the way to identification of the political powers with technocracy and the increasing general use of violence in the resolution of social problems.

From Socialist Unification to Socialist Scission 1966–69: Socialist Unification and the Italian Party System

1974 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felice Rizzi
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Socialist Party ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Strategic Design ◽  
Single Voice

A FEW YEARS AGO, GALL1 AND PRANDI WROTE THAT THE UNIFICATION of the socialists represented a phase of rationalization of the Italian political system. Not only did the re-unification of the PSI (Socialist Party of Italy) and the PSDI (Social Democratic Party of Italy) lead to a simplification of the party subsystem (by reducing its excessive numbers), thus rendering the choice between alternatives easier for the electorate. But at last a single voice seemed to emerge which could undertake the task of opposing the twenty years of Christian Democrat predominance, which had been responsible for so many aspects of political ‘immobilism’. Moreover it was possible to discern a strategic design in the socialist plans — an optimistic design perhaps, but entailing possible innovations. The formation of a strong Socialist Party might have led to the overcoming of one of the principal - if not the greatest - defects of the Italian party system: the absence of a mechanism of rewards and punishments.

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