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Japan THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY
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Figure 9. House of Representatives Elections, 1958-90
The LDP had dominated the political system beginning in
1955,
when it was established as a coalition of smaller
conservative
groups. Until 1993 all of Japan's prime ministers came
from its
ranks as did, with one exception, other cabinet ministers.
The
party's fortunes have risen and ebbed: a low point was
reached in
the July 23, 1989, election to the upper house, when it
became, for
the first time, a minority party, and again in the July
18, 1993,
lower house election, when it lost its simple majority in
that body
(see
The Structure of Government;
The Liberal Democratic Party in National Elections
, this ch.).
By the early 1990s, the LDP's nearly four decades in
power
allowed it to establish a highly stable process of policy
formation. This process would not have been possible if
other
parties had secured parliamentary majorities. LDP strength
was
based on an enduring, although not unchallenged, coalition
of big
business, small business, agriculture, professional
groups, and
other interests. Elite bureaucrats collaborated closely
with the
party and interest groups in drafting and implementing
policy. In
a sense, the party's success was a result not of its
internal
strength but of its weakness. It lacked a strong,
nationwide
organization or consistent ideology with which to attract
voters.
Its leaders were rarely decisive, charismatic, or popular.
But it
functioned efficiently as a locus for matching interest
group money
and votes with bureaucratic power and expertise. This
arrangement
resulted in corruption, but the party could claim credit
for
helping to create economic growth and a stable,
middle-class Japan.
Data as of January 1994
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