This panel comprises six papers focusing on elections and partisanship in contemporary Japan. Given the dominance of the Liberal Democratic Party in post-war history, Japan has been viewed as one of the crucial cases for understanding how partisanship and policy positions shape people’s attitudes and choices. Many voters are dissatisfied with the LDP but repeatedly help to build the LDP-led government. In addition, compared to other nations, the degree of polarization remains low in Japan, which means that opposition parties may be able to sway voters’ minds. These situations leave us to wonder voters they reluctantly continue to support the LDP while rejecting to support opposition parties. The papers in this panel seek to address this puzzle.
Drawing on the large number of districts with low electoral competitiveness and the LDP dominance, Hata and Zenkyo’s papers assess voter behavior and attitude when elections become more competitive. Iida et al. examine whether negative attitudes toward opposition parties weaken when the LDP and opposition parties jointly endorse a candidate. Ohmura explores whether people’s support for the LDP shapes their economic perceptions and stock investments. Ono’s paper investigates whether the ownership of high-risk assets is positively associated with LDP support using longitudinal survey data. Harada addresses whether the destruction of communities due to conflict affects long-term political participation. He estimates the enduring impact of air raid-induced community destruction on voter turnout in recent Japanese elections, leveraging two micro-level datasets made available through recent methodological advancements. Ultimately, these studies help to understand the roles of partisanship and electoral environments as determinants of political landscapes in Japan.