Democratic Party of Japan

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Template:Short description Template:Other uses Template:Infobox political party

The Template:Nihongo was a centrist<ref name="Centrist">The Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist:

The party's origins lie in the previous Democratic Party of Japan, which was founded in September 1996 by politicians of the centre-right and centre-left with roots in the Liberal Democratic Party and Japan Socialist Party.<ref name="Uchiyama2010">Template:Cite book</ref> In April 1998, the previous DPJ merged with splinters of the New Frontier Party to create a new party which retained the DPJ name.<ref name="Curtis1999">Template:Cite book</ref> In 2003, the party was joined by the Liberal Party of Ichirō Ozawa.<ref name="Schreurs2014"/>

Following the 2009 election, the DPJ became the ruling party in the House of Representatives, defeating the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and gaining the largest number of seats in both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors. The DPJ was ousted from government by the LDP in the 2012 general election. It retained 57 seats in the lower house, and still had 88 seats in the upper house. During its time in office, the DPJ was beset by internal conflicts and struggled to implement many of its proposed policies, an outcome described by political scientists Phillip Lipscy and Ethan Scheiner as the "paradox of political change without policy change".<ref>Phillip Y. Lipscy and Ethan Scheiner. 2012. "Japan under the DPJ: The Paradox of Political Change without Policy Change Template:Webarchive". Journal of East Asian Studies 12(3): 311–322.</ref> Legislative productivity under the DPJ was particularly low, falling to levels unprecedented in recent Japanese history according to some measures.<ref name="rise and fall">Kenji E. Kushida and Phillip Y. Lipscy. 2013. "The Rise and Fall of the Democratic Party of JapanTemplate:Dead link". in Kenji E. Kushida and Phillip Y. Lipscy eds. Japan Under the DPJ: The Politics of Transition and Governance. Stanford: Brookings/Walter H. Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center.</ref> However, the DPJ implemented a number of progressive measures during its time in office such as the provision of free public schooling through high school, increases in child-rearing subsidies,<ref>Japan in Transformation, 1945–2010 (2nd edition) by Jeff Kingston</ref> expanded unemployment insurance coverage,<ref name="google">Template:Cite book</ref> extended duration of a housing allowance,<ref name="google2">Template:Cite book</ref> and stricter regulations safeguarding part-time and temporary workers.<ref name="google3">Template:Cite book</ref>

On 27 March 2016, the DPJ merged with the Japan Innovation Party and Vision of Reform to form the Democratic Party (Minshintō), which in turn merged with the Party of Hope to form the Democratic Party for the People.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

It is not to be confused with the now-defunct Japan Democratic Party that merged with the Liberal Party in 1955 to form the Liberal Democratic Party. It is also different from another Democratic Party, which was established in 1947 and dissolved in 1950.

History

Template:See also

Beginnings

Headquarters of the Democratic Party of Japan

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was formed on 27 April 1998.<ref name=factbox>FACTBOX: Key facts about parties competing in Japan election, Reuters, 20 August 2009</ref> It was a merger of four previously independent parties that were opposed to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)—the previous Democratic Party of Japan, the Good Governance Party (民政党, Minseitō), the New Fraternity Party (新党友愛, Shintō-Yūai), and the Democratic Reform Party (民主改革連合, Minshu-Kaikaku-Rengō). The previous parties ranged in ideology from conservative to social-democratic.<ref name="Uchiyama2010"/> The new party began with ninety-three members of the House of Representatives and thirty-eight members of the House of Councilors. Moreover, the party officials were elected as well at the party convention for the first time; Naoto Kan, former Health and Welfare Minister was appointed as the president of the party and Tsutomu Hata, former prime minister as secretary-general.

On 24 September 2003 the party formally merged with the small, centre-right Liberal Party led by Ichirō Ozawa<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in a move largely considered in preparation for the 2003 general election held on 9 November 2003. This move immediately gave the DPJ eight more seats in the House of Councilors.

In the 2003 general election, the DPJ gained a total of 178 seats. This was short of their objectives, but nevertheless a significant demonstration of the new group's strength. Following a pension scandal, Naoto Kan resigned and was replaced with moderate liberal Katsuya Okada.

In the 2004 House of Councilors elections, the DPJ won a seat more than the ruling Liberal Democrats, but the LDP still maintained its firm majority in total votes. This was the first time since its inception that the LDP had garnered fewer votes than another party.

The 2005 snap parliamentary elections called by Junichiro Koizumi in response to the rejection of his Postal privatization bills saw a major setback to the DPJ's plans of obtaining a majority in the Diet. The DPJ leadership, particularly Okada, had staked their reputation on winning the election and driving the LDP from power. When the final results were in, the DPJ had lost 62 seats, mostly to its rival the LDP. Okada resigned the party leadership, fulfilling his campaign promise to do so if the DPJ did not obtain a majority in the Diet. He was replaced by Seiji Maehara in September 2005.

However, Maehara's term as party leader lasted barely half a year. Although he initially led the party's criticism of the Koizumi administration, particularly in regards to connections between LDP lawmakers and scandal-ridden Livedoor, the revelation that a fake email was used to try and establish this link greatly damaged his credibility. The scandal led to the resignation of Representative Hisayasu Nagata and of Maehara as party leader on 31 March.<ref>Japan opposition leader resigns, BBC NEWS, 31 March 2006</ref> New elections for party leader were held on 7 April, in which Ichirō Ozawa was elected president.<ref>Japanese opposition picks leader, BBC NEWS, 7 April 2006</ref> In the Upper House election 2007, the DPJ won 60 out of 121 contested seats, with 49 seats not up for re-election.

2009–2012 government

DPJ winning the 2009 general election

Ozawa resigned as party leader in May 2009 after a fundraising scandal and Yukio Hatoyama succeeded Ozawa before the August 2009 general election,<ref name=factbox /> at which the party swept the LDP from power in a massive landslide, winning 308 seats (out of a total of 480 seats), reducing the LDP from 300 to 119 seats<ref name="BBC">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> – the worst defeat for a sitting government in modern Japanese history. This was in marked contrast to the closely contested 1993 general election, the only other time the LDP has lost an election. The DPJ's strong majority in the House of Representatives assured that Hatoyama would be the next prime minister to replace Tarō Asō, leader of the LDP. Hatoyama was nominated on September 16 and formally appointed later that day by Emperor Akihito in the Tokyo Imperial Palace and formed his Cabinet.

However, the DPJ did not have a majority in the House of Councillors, which was not contested at the election, and fell just short of the 320 seats (a two-thirds majority) needed to override the upper chamber's veto power. Hatoyama was thus forced to form a coalition government with the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party to ensure their support in the House of Councillors.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref>

On 2 June 2010, Hatoyama announced his resignation before a party meeting and officially resigned two days later. He cited breaking a campaign promise to close an American military base on the island of Okinawa Prefecture as the main reason for the move. On 28 May 2010, soon after and because of increased tensions after the possible sinking of a Korean ship by North Korea,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Hatoyama had made a deal with U.S. President Barack Obama<ref name="WSJ resignation">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> to retain the base for security reasons, but the deal was unpopular in Japan. He also mentioned money scandals involving a top party leader, Ozawa, who resigned as well, in his decision to step down.<ref name="WSJ resignation"/> Hatoyama had been pressured to leave by members of his party after doing poorly in polls in anticipation of the July upper house election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Naoto Kan succeeded Hatoyama as the next President of DPJ and Prime Minister of Japan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

At the July 2010 House of Councillors election, the DPJ lost ten seats and their coalition majority. Prior to the election Kan raised the issue of an increase to Japan's 5 per cent consumption tax in order to address the country's rising debt. This proposal, together with Ozawa and Hatoyama's scandals, was viewed as one of the causes for the party's poor performance in the election. The divided house meant the government required the cooperation of smaller parties including Your Party and the Communist Party to ensure the passage of legislation through the upper house.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Ozawa challenged Kan's leadership of the DPJ in September 2010. Although Ozawa initially had a slight edge among DPJ members of parliament, local rank-and-file party members and activists overwhelmingly supported Kan, and according to opinion polls the wider Japanese public preferred Kan to Ozawa by as much as a 4–1 ratio.<ref name="Reuters1">Template:Cite news</ref> In the final vote by DPJ lawmakers Kan won with 206 votes to Ozawa's 200.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

After the leadership challenge, Kan reshuffled his cabinet and removed many prominent members of the pro-Ozawa faction from important posts in the new cabinet.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The cabinet reshuffle also resulted in the promotion of long-time Kan ally Yoshito Sengoku to Chief Cabinet Secretary, who the LDP labeled as the "second" Prime Minister of the Kan cabinet.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In September 2010, the government intervened to weaken the surging yen by buying U.S. dollars, a move which temporarily relieved Japan's exporters.<ref name="yenintervention1">Template:Cite news</ref> The move proved popular with stock brokers, Japanese exporters, and the Japanese public.<ref name="yenintervention1"/> It was the first such move by a Japanese government since 2004.<ref name="yenintervention1"/> Later, in October, after the yen had offset the intervention and had reached a 15-year high, the Kan cabinet approved a stimulus package worth about 5.1 trillion yen ($62 billion) in order to weaken the yen and fight deflation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

2012–2016 return to opposition and dissolution

On 24 February 2016, the DPJ announced an agreement to merge with the smaller Japan Innovation Party (JIP) and Vision of Reform ahead of the Upper House elections in the summer,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with a merger at a special convention agreed for 27 March.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 4 March 2016, the DPJ and JIP asked supporters for suggestions for a name for the new party.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 14 March 2016 the name of the new party was announced as Minshintō, having been the most popular choice of possible names polled among voters.<ref>NHK World News. (March 14, 2016). DPJ, JIP decide on new party name: Minshinto. Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> With the addition of Representatives form Vision of Reform, the DPJ and JIP merged to form the Democratic Party on 27 March 2016.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The dissolution of the DPJ is mainly attributed to the fact that the reforms that the DPJ advocated for were hard to put into place because of electoral restrictions, economic restrictions, and the fact that the reforms that would reduce the power of the bureaucracy would help deprive the DPJ of the power to implement their other reforms. Other factors that affected the dissolution of the party were the internal conflicts that paralyzed the DPJ and the fact that the DPJ aligned itself with the foreign policy of the LDP.<ref name="rise and fall"/>

Ideology

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) called their philosophy Template:Nihongo, which was determined in the first party convention on 27 April 1998.<ref>Template:Cite web (from Japanese Encyclopædia Britannica )</ref><ref name="philosophy-ja">Out Basic Philosophy – Building a free and secure society on The Democratic Party of Japan's website accessed on May 12, 2010. Template:In lang</ref> DPJ is generally classified as a centrist party, but it is also classified as a centre-left in the context of Japanese politics in contrast to the LDP.<ref name="Inoguchi2012"/><ref name="Schreurs2014"/>

The DPJ aimed to create a platform broad enough to encompass the views of politicians who had roots in either the Liberal Democratic Party or Japan Socialist Party.<ref name="Curtis1999"/> Party leader Naoto Kan compared the DPJ to the Olive Tree alliance of former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, and described his view that it needed to be "the party of Thatcher and Blair".<ref name="Curtis1999"/> The DPJ had both conservative and social-democratic elements.<ref name="Yazawa">Template:Cite web</ref> Because of this position, the DPJ has often been designated as a big tent party.<ref name="IPS">Template:Cite news</ref>

View of the status quo

The DPJ claimed themselves to be revolutionary in that they are against the status quo and the current governing establishment. The DPJ argued that the bureaucracy and the size of the Japanese government is too large, inefficient, and saturated with cronies and that the Japanese state is too conservative and inflexible. The DPJ wanted to "overthrow the ancient régime locked in old thinking and vested interests, solve the problems at hand, and create a new, flexible, affluent society which values people's individuality and vitality."<ref name="philosophy">Out Basic Philosophy – Building a free and secure society on The Democratic Party of Japan's website accessed on 17 May 2008.</ref>

Political standpoint

Template:Cquote

Goals

Democratic Centrism pursued the following five goals.<ref name="philosophy"/>

  • Transparent, just and fair society
The Democratic Party sought to build a society governed with rules which are transparent, just and fair.
  • Free market and inclusive society
While the party argued that the free market system should "permeate" economic life, they also aim for an inclusive society which guarantees security, safety, and fair and equal opportunity for each individual.
  • Decentralized and participatory society
The party intended to devolve the centralized government powers to citizens, markets, and local governments so that people of all backgrounds can participate in decision-making.
The Democratic Party proclaimed to hold the values in the meaning of the constitution to "embody the fundamental principles of the Constitution": popular sovereignty, respect for fundamental human rights, and pacifism.<ref name="philosophy" />
  • International relations based on self-reliance and mutual coexistence
As a member of the global community, the party sought to establish Japan's international relations in the fraternal spirit of self-reliance and mutual coexistence to restore the world's trust in the country.<ref name="philosophy" />

Policy platforms

The DPJ's policy platforms included the restructuring of civil service, monthly allowance to a family with children (¥26,000 per child), cut in gas tax, income support for farmers, free tuition for public high schools, banning of temporary work in manufacturing,<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref> raising the minimum-wage to ¥1,000 and halting of increase in sales tax for the next four years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The DPJ's stance on nuclear power was that steady steps should be taken towards nuclear power, but not too quickly as to possibly endanger safety.<ref name="ZölzerMeskens2017">Template:Cite book</ref>

Structure

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Factions

The DPJ had some political factions or groups, although they were not as factionalized as the LDP, which has traditionally placed high priority on intra-party factional alignment. The groups were, the most influential to the least influential:

The Independent's Club was a minor political party which formed a political entity with the DPJ in both chambers of the house.

Presidents of the Democratic Party of Japan

The Presidents of Democratic Party of Japan (民主党代表, Minshutō Daihyō), the formal name is Template:Nihongo.

No. President
(birth–death)
Constituency Took office Left office Election results Prime Minister Template:Small
Preceding parties: Democratic Party (1996), New Fraternity Party, Good Governance Party, & Democratic Reform Party
1 Naoto Kan
(b. 1946)
Rep for Tokyo 18th 27 April 1998 25 September 1999 Template:Smalldiv

Template:Smalldiv

style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Hashimoto Template:Nowrap
style="background-color: Template:Party color; border-bottom:solid 0 gray" | Obuchi Template:Nowrap
2 Yukio Hatoyama
(b. 1947)
Rep for Hokkaido 9th 25 September 1999 10 December 2002 Template:Smalldiv

Template:Smalldiv Template:Smalldiv Template:Smalldiv Template:Smalldiv

height=20 style="background-color: Template:Party color; border-top:solid 0 gray" |
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Mori Template:Nowrap
style="background-color: Template:Party color; border-bottom:solid 0 gray" | Koizumi Template:Nowrap
3 Naoto Kan
(b. 1946)
Rep for Tokyo 18th 10 December 2002 18 May 2004 Template:Smalldiv style="background-color: Template:Party color; border-bottom:solid 0 gray; border-top:solid 0 gray" |
4 Katsuya Okada
(b. 1953)
Rep for Mie 3rd 18 May 2004 17 September 2005 Template:Smalldiv

Template:Smalldiv

style="background-color: Template:Party color; border-bottom:solid 0 gray; border-top:solid 0 gray" |
5 Seiji Maehara
(b. 1962)
Rep for Kyoto 2nd 17 September 2005 7 April 2006 Template:Smalldiv style="background-color: Template:Party color; border-bottom:solid 0 gray; border-top:solid 0 gray" |
6 Ichirō Ozawa
(b. 1942)
Rep for Iwate 4th 7 April 2006 16 May 2009 Template:Smalldiv

Template:Smalldiv Template:Smalldiv

height=20 style="background-color: Template:Party color; border-top:solid 0 gray" |
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Abe S. Template:Nowrap
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Fukuda Y. Template:Nowrap
style="background-color: Template:Party color; border-bottom:solid 0 gray" | Asō Template:Nowrap
7 Yukio Hatoyama
(b. 1947)
Rep for Hokkaido 9th 16 May 2009 4 June 2010 Template:Smalldiv height=20 style="background-color: Template:Party color; border-top:solid 0 gray" |
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Himself Template:Small
8 Naoto Kan
(b. 1946)
Rep for Tokyo 18th 4 June 2010 29 August 2011 Template:Smalldiv

Template:Smalldiv

style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Himself Template:Small
9 Yoshihiko Noda
(b. 1957)
Rep for Chiba 4th 29 August 2011 25 December 2012 Template:Smalldiv

Template:Smalldiv Template:Smalldiv

style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Himself Template:Small
10 Banri Kaieda
(b. 1949)
Rep for Tokyo 1st 25 December 2012 14 December 2014 Template:Smalldiv rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Abe S. Template:Nowrap
11 Katsuya Okada
(b. 1953)
Rep for Mie 3rd 14 December 2014 27 March 2016 Template:Smalldiv

Template:Smalldiv

Successor party: Democratic Party (2016)

Election results

General election results

House of Representatives
Election Leader No. of
candidates
Seats Position Constituency votes PR Block votes Status
No. ± Share No. Share No. Share
2000 Yukio Hatoyama 262 Template:Composition bar 26.4% 2nd 16,811,732 27.61% 15,067,990 25.18% Template:No2
2003 Naoto Kan 277 Template:Composition bar Template:Increase 50 36.8% Template:Steady 2nd 21,814,154 36.66% 22,095,636 37.39% Template:No2
2005 Katsuya Okada 299 Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 64 23.5% Template:Steady 2nd 24,804,786 36.44% 21,036,425 31.02% Template:No2
2009 Yukio Hatoyama 330 Template:Composition bar Template:Increase 195 64.1% Template:Increase 1st 33,475,334 47.43% 29,844,799 42.41% Template:Yes2
Template:Yes2
2012 Yoshihiko Noda 267 Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 251 11.8% Template:Decrease 2nd 13,598,773 22.81% 9,628,653 16.00% Template:No2
2014 Banri Kaieda 198 Template:Composition bar Template:Increase 16 15.3% Template:Steady 2nd 11,916,849 22.51% 9,775,991 18.33% Template:No2

Councillors election results

Election Leader # of seats total # of seats won # of National votes % of National vote # of Prefectural votes % of Prefectural vote Majority/Minority
1998 Naoto Kan Template:Composition bar Template:Composition bar 12,209,685 21.75% 9,063,939 16.20% Template:No2
2001 Yukio Hatoyama Template:Composition bar Template:Composition bar 8,990,524 16.42% 10,066,552 18.53% Template:No2
2004 Katsuya Okada Template:Composition bar Template:Composition bar 21,137,457 37.79% 21,931,984 39.09% Template:No2
2007 Ichirō Ozawa Template:Composition bar Template:Composition bar 23,256,247 39.48% 24,006,817 40.45% Template:Partial
Template:Partial
2010 Naoto Kan Template:Composition bar Template:Composition bar 18,450,139 31.56% 22,756,000 38.97% Template:Partial
Template:Partial
2013 Banri Kaieda Template:Composition bar Template:Composition bar 7,268,653 13.4% 8,646,371 16.3% Template:No2

See also

References

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Further reading

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Template:Democratic Party of Japan Template:Authority control