Abstract
A record of 1,504 candidates from 12 registered parties ran in the 2012 House of Representatives (HR) election, more candidates than at any other HR election since 1947.1 Nearly half (730) of these were “first-time” candidates to the HR (Table 9.1). This chapter details the methods used by the major parties to recruit these new candidates, in particular the innovative system of open recruitment (koubo), and examines the differences across parties in terms of candidates’ biographical characteristics, including career and party background, prior political experience, gender, and family ties. The analysis makes use of newspaper articles, internal party recruitment data, personal interviews with politicians and party staff, and complete biographical data on all nominated candidates.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Asano, M. (2006). Shimin Shakai ni okeru Seido Kaikaku: Senkyo Seido to Kouhosha Rikuruuto [System Reform at the Level of Civil Society: Electoral Reform and Candidate Recruitment]. Tokyo: Keio University Press.
Curtis, G. L. (1971). Election Campaigning, Japanese Style. New York: Columbia University Press.
Fukui, H. (1997). Japan. In P. Noms (Ed.), Passages to Power: Legislative Recruitment in Advanced Democracies (pp. 98–113). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hrebenar, R. J. (1992). The Kōmeitō: Party of “Buddhist Democracy.” In R. J. Hrebenar (Ed.), The Japanese Party System (pp. 151–83). Boulder, CO: Westview Press, Inc.
Ichikawa, T. (1990). Seshuu Daigishi no Kenkyuu [Study of Hereditary Legislators]. Tokyo: Ninon Keizai Shimbunsha.
Inaida, S. (2009). Seshuu giin: Kouzou to Mondaiten [Hereditary Politicians: Structure and Problems]. Tokyo: Koudansha.
Ishibashi, M., & Reed, S. R. (1992). Second-Generation Diet Members and Democracy in Japan: Hereditary Seats. Asian Survey, 32: 366–79.
Krauss, E. S., & Pekkanen, R. J. (2011). The Rise and Fall of Japan’s LDP: Political Organizations as Historical Institutions. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
Reed, S. R. (2009). Party Strategy or Candidate Strategy: How Did the LDP Run the Right Number of Candidates in Japan’s Multi-Member Districts? Party Politics, 15: 295–314.
Scheiner, E. (2006). Democracy Without Competition in Japan: Opposition Failure in a One-Party Dominant State. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Sekou, H. (2006). Jimintou Kaizou Purojekuto 650 Nichi [LDP Reform Project: 650 Days]. Tokyo: Shinchousa.
Smith, D. M. (2012). Succeeding in Politics: Dynasties in Democracies. University of California, San Diego. Ph.D. Dissertation.
Smith, D. M. (manuscipt). Party Ideals and Practical Constraints in Kōmeitō Candidate Nominations. In Ehrhardt, G., Klein A., McLaughlin L. & Reed, S. R. (Eds.), Komeito—Religion and Politics in Japan.
Smith, D. M., Pekkanen, R., & Krauss, E. (2013). Building a Party: Candidate Recruitment in the Democratic Party of Japan, 1996–2012. In P. Y. Lipscy & Kushida, K. E. (Eds.), Japan under the DPJ: The Politics of Transition and Governance. Stanford, CA: The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center.
Taniguchi, M. (2007). Changing Media, Changing Politics in Japan. Japanese Journal of Political Science, 8(1): 147–66.
Taniguchi, N. (2008). Keeping it in the Family: Hereditary Politics and Democracy in Japan. In S. L. Martin, & G. Steel (Eds.), Democratic Reform in Japan: Assessing the Impact (pp. 65–80). Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Uesugi, T. (2009). Seshuu Giin no Karakuri [The Mechanism of Hereditary Politicians]. Tokyo: Bunshun Shinsho.
Weiner, R. (2011). The Evolution of the DPJ: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back. In Leonard J. Schoppa (ed.). The Evolution of Japan’s Party System: Politics and Policy in an Era of Institutional Change (pp. 63–98). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2013 Daniel M. Smith
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Smith, D.M. (2013). Candidate Recruitment for the 2012 Election: New Parties, New Methods … Same Old Pool of Candidates?. In: Pekkanen, R., Reed, S.R., Scheiner, E. (eds) Japan Decides 2012. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137346124_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137346124_9
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-46765-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-34612-4
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)