An Analysis of the Political Funding System to Observe the Limits to Political Party Development in Japan - the Political Funds Control Act and Political Party Subsidies Act

Volume: 

23

Number: 

1

Published date: 

六月, 2019

Authors: 

Tzu-Chen Cheng

Abstract: 

Japan has adopted the Political Funds Control Act and the Public Offices Election Act to promote the development of party politics since the GHQ period. In Japan, the distinctive characteristic of party politics has been the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party), which was in power for a long time. In the 1990s, in order to make up for the political deficiencies and resolve the problems of money/power-related politics due to the LDP having been in power for a long time, Japan adopted the Political Party Subsidies Act and the Juridical Person Grant for Political Parties Receiving Public Funding Act. This paper attempts to explore the contradictory definitions among the above party law articles and the strong competition between the parties which have resulted in institutional deadlock. By analyzing the current situation regarding the Political Funds Control Act and the Political Party Subsidies Act in Japan, we can ascertain the effectiveness of the Political Funds Control Act in enabling the number of major political parties to increase while donations decrease. The effectiveness of the Political Party Subsidies Act has been seen in the decrease in the number of major political parties, although the parties now greatly depend on party subsidies.

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