著者

Day Stephen Neary Ian

出版者

大分大学経済学会

雑誌

大分大学経済論集 (ISSN:04740157)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.72, no.1, pp.1-28, 2020-05

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Between 2013-2019, opposition parties in Japan have been plagued by fragmentation, electoral failure and transience. Such pathologies have left them languishing in a developmental cul-de-sac, characterized by the qualities that we equate with a `pre-fab' type-party, which has stymied their capacity to institutionalize and project themselves as a credible government-in-waiting. At the heart of this conundrum has been a self-replicating pattern whereby: 1) the weakness of the main opposition party invites challenge; 2) challengers emerge from intra-parliamentary splits and realignments; 3) in a bid to short-circuit the process of party-building (institutionalization) new parties overly rely upon `political celebrity' (charisma); 4) tactical cross-party electoral alliances while seen to hold potential are ultimately half-hearted; 5) the subsequent failure of 3 and 4 leave a litany of failed parties in its wake as deputies prioritize personal survival over party survival via which they start the process all over again. Such a pattern, scripted by political choice and augmented by the inherited political structures that deputies bring with them, have combined to tip the 2012-2019 oppositional story towards ephemerality rather than institutionalization. At the end of 2019, though, incipient signs of a shift beyond this developmental pattern appear to be unfolding.

著者

Day Stephen

出版者

大分大学

雑誌

基盤研究(C)

巻号頁・発行日

2017-04-01

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In June 2017, I was able to make an initial presentation to the EUSA-AP Conference (Tokyo) which provided invaluable feedback for the start of my project. Two months later, I was invited to give a lecture at the United Nations University (Tokyo) on the issue of Brexit. Indeed, much of this year has been taken-up following the on-going machinations of the UK's withdrawal process and the corresponding impact on the European Union. This has resulted in public lectures for the EUIJ-Kyushu and the Saga EU Association. In terms of party-politics above the level of the nation-state, I was asked to write a contributing chapter for the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (co-ordinated by Steven Van Hecke, Leuven University). In December 2017, I attended the Congress of the European Liberals (Amsterdam) where I observed preparations for the 2019 European elections and the process for selecting a leading candidate (spitzenkandidat); undertook numerous on-the-spot interviews; and engaged in some debates.While in Amsterdam, I also had the opportunity to undertake some archival research on the start of the European integration process post-1945. In addition, I visited Ireland where I undertook numerous interviews with national parties, across the political spectrum, about their views on Brexit and their relations with their corresponding Europarty. The information I collected is presently feeding into a paper I will present in Taiwan (EUSA-AP) in June 2018.