The Significance of the Democratic Party's Landslide Victory and Issues that Lie Ahead
YAMADA Takao / Journalist
October 20, 2009
The public opinion that gave the Democratic Party its landslide victory in the 2009 elections and the public opinion that gave the Liberal Democratic Party its landslide victory in the 2005 elections are, to my eyes, one and the same. Japan had pursued a national policy of becoming a "lightly armed economic power" since the end of World War II, and that policy is now on the rocks. The Japanese people have been seeking a political leader and party with the vision and power to bring about change. In 2005 they chose Koizumi Jun'ichiro, and this time they chose the Democratic Party.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is a pro-U.S. conservative party that was born in 1955 as the Cold War settled in. It became an opposition party for a brief period in 1993, when the Cold War ended and Japan's significance as a base against socialism waned. However, the LDP returned to power in 1994 since North Korea and China were still a threat in the Far East and economic growth was still the national policy.
The LDP had its foundations in the powerful alliance among parliamentary representatives, bureaucrats and industry associations. The party and the bureaucracy guaranteed economic growth and allocation of its spoils, and in return the industry associations provided support for the LDP. This "golden cycle" was established as a system during the period of high economic growth in the 1960's and became deeply embedded in Japanese society.
Then in 1973 the Oil Shock caused a slowdown in economic growth. Japan plunged further into stagnation with the bursting of the bubble economy in the early 1990's. The LDP continued to pursue economic growth by issuing more government bonds and expanding public works projects. As a result, Japan kept on building useless dams, airports, ports and roads, escalating the destruction of its environment and bringing fiscal ruin to the national and local government.
It was Koizumi who sought to end this vicious cycle. He tightened the reins of monetary policy and pushed to reform the bureaucracy, which was helpless against the inertia left by the period of high economic growth. This resulted in a breakdown of the alliance among government, bureaucracy and industry. Municipal mergers that were promoted on a national scale to recover sound financing to local governments also made an impact. It caused a dramatic decline in the number of LDP representatives who had spread their roots in each town and village, which in turn led to a rapid weakening of the LDP power base.
As discontent with fiscal austerity erupted and Koizumi's successors lost direction and became lost in the confusion, the Democratic Party focused on administrative reform and honed its policies, just as Koizumi had done. Ten years since its founding and constituted for the most part by young parliamentarians, the Democratic Party is a party that "lacks caliber" in the words of their own former leader, Ozawa Ichiro.
The Japanese remain persistently suspicious of North Korea and China. And as the global economy continued to be rattled, many people had placed their trust in the LDP and its track record. However, their trust turned to contempt for reasons including the repeated change of Prime Ministers, the frequent misreading of Chinese characters by Prime Minister Aso Taro and a press conference at the G7 meeting in Rome given by an inebriated Finance Minister Nakagawa Shoichi.
The conviction that the LDP could no longer offer any reliable leaders spread among the public and led voters to support the Democratic Party. And thus seizing power, the Democratic Party is currently at work on environmental protection and administrative reform.
However, the Democratic Party itself has yet to clarify the balance between economic growth and environmental protection. Neither has it resolved the contradiction of depending on the U.S. military while acting as mediator for peace. Whether the party can find a solution to these issues and present a national policy for the post-postwar period remains to be seen.
The writer is Senior Editorial Writer of Mainichi Newspaper.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is a pro-U.S. conservative party that was born in 1955 as the Cold War settled in. It became an opposition party for a brief period in 1993, when the Cold War ended and Japan's significance as a base against socialism waned. However, the LDP returned to power in 1994 since North Korea and China were still a threat in the Far East and economic growth was still the national policy.
The LDP had its foundations in the powerful alliance among parliamentary representatives, bureaucrats and industry associations. The party and the bureaucracy guaranteed economic growth and allocation of its spoils, and in return the industry associations provided support for the LDP. This "golden cycle" was established as a system during the period of high economic growth in the 1960's and became deeply embedded in Japanese society.
Then in 1973 the Oil Shock caused a slowdown in economic growth. Japan plunged further into stagnation with the bursting of the bubble economy in the early 1990's. The LDP continued to pursue economic growth by issuing more government bonds and expanding public works projects. As a result, Japan kept on building useless dams, airports, ports and roads, escalating the destruction of its environment and bringing fiscal ruin to the national and local government.
It was Koizumi who sought to end this vicious cycle. He tightened the reins of monetary policy and pushed to reform the bureaucracy, which was helpless against the inertia left by the period of high economic growth. This resulted in a breakdown of the alliance among government, bureaucracy and industry. Municipal mergers that were promoted on a national scale to recover sound financing to local governments also made an impact. It caused a dramatic decline in the number of LDP representatives who had spread their roots in each town and village, which in turn led to a rapid weakening of the LDP power base.
As discontent with fiscal austerity erupted and Koizumi's successors lost direction and became lost in the confusion, the Democratic Party focused on administrative reform and honed its policies, just as Koizumi had done. Ten years since its founding and constituted for the most part by young parliamentarians, the Democratic Party is a party that "lacks caliber" in the words of their own former leader, Ozawa Ichiro.
The Japanese remain persistently suspicious of North Korea and China. And as the global economy continued to be rattled, many people had placed their trust in the LDP and its track record. However, their trust turned to contempt for reasons including the repeated change of Prime Ministers, the frequent misreading of Chinese characters by Prime Minister Aso Taro and a press conference at the G7 meeting in Rome given by an inebriated Finance Minister Nakagawa Shoichi.
The conviction that the LDP could no longer offer any reliable leaders spread among the public and led voters to support the Democratic Party. And thus seizing power, the Democratic Party is currently at work on environmental protection and administrative reform.
However, the Democratic Party itself has yet to clarify the balance between economic growth and environmental protection. Neither has it resolved the contradiction of depending on the U.S. military while acting as mediator for peace. Whether the party can find a solution to these issues and present a national policy for the post-postwar period remains to be seen.
The writer is Senior Editorial Writer of Mainichi Newspaper.
The English-Speaking Union of Japan
民主党圧勝の意味と課題
山田孝男 / ジャーナリスト
2009年 10月 20日
民主党圧勝の意味と課題
山田孝男 ジャーナリスト
２００９年衆院選で民主党を圧勝させた民意と、２００５年衆院選で自民党を圧勝させた民意は、まったく同じものだと私は思っている。第二次大戦後の日本の国策だった「軽武装・経済立国」が行き詰まった。日本人は変革のビジョンとパワーを備えた指導者、政党を追い求めており、05年には小泉純一郎を、今回は民主党を選んだ。
自民党は東西冷戦確立期の１９５５年に生まれた親米保守政党である。冷戦終結により、反社会主義の拠点としての意義が薄れた93年、一時、野党に転落した。が、94年以降、再び政権に復帰した。極東には北朝鮮と中国の脅威が残り、経済成長がなお国策だったからだ。
その自民党の基盤は、国会議員と官僚、業界団体の強力な同盟だった。党と官僚が経済成長と分配を保証し、その見返りとして業界団体が自民党の選挙を支援する。この「黄金循環」システムは、高度経済成長時代の60年代に確立し、日本社会に深く根を下ろした。
73年の石油ショックを契機に経済成長は鈍化した。90年代初めのバブル崩壊で経済はいっそう沈滞。自民党は国債を増発して公共事業を拡大し、なお経済成長を追求した。その結果、無駄なダムや空港、港湾、道路が延々とつくり続けられ、環境破壊が進み、国と自治体の財政悪化を招いた。
この悪循環を断ち切ろうとしたのが小泉である。緊縮財政路線を採り、高度成長期の惰性を止められない官僚組織の改革を進めた。これによって政官財の同盟は崩れた。自治体財政健全化などを理由に全国規模で推進した市町村合併も響いた。地域に根を張っていた自民党の市町村議会議員が激減し、自民党の基盤が急速に弱まった。
緊縮政策への不満が噴き出し、小泉の後継者たちが方向性を見失って混乱する中で、小泉と同様、行政改革に的を絞って政策を練ったのが民主党だ。結党10年。若い議員が大半を占め、小沢一郎前代表が「力量不足」と認めた政党でもある。
北朝鮮と中国に対する日本人の警戒は依然根強い。グローバル経済の動揺が続く中で、多くの人々が、実績のある自民党になお信頼を寄せていた。その信頼を軽蔑に変えたのが、度重なる首相交代、麻生太郎首相の漢字読み間違え、ローマのＧ７における中川昭一財務相の酩酊記者会見などである。
もはや自民党には恃むに足る人物がいないという確信が巷に広がり、有権者の支持を民主党へ向かわせた。こうして政権を握った民主党がひとまず、環境保護と行政改革に取り組んでいる現状である。
その民主党も経済成長と環境保護の関係を明確に整理できたわけではない。米軍に依存しつつ平和の仲介者を名乗るという矛盾も整理できていない。これらの課題に答えを出し、「ポスト戦後」時代の国策を示せるかどうかが問われている。
（筆者は毎日新聞 専門編集委員。）
山田孝男 ジャーナリスト
２００９年衆院選で民主党を圧勝させた民意と、２００５年衆院選で自民党を圧勝させた民意は、まったく同じものだと私は思っている。第二次大戦後の日本の国策だった「軽武装・経済立国」が行き詰まった。日本人は変革のビジョンとパワーを備えた指導者、政党を追い求めており、05年には小泉純一郎を、今回は民主党を選んだ。
自民党は東西冷戦確立期の１９５５年に生まれた親米保守政党である。冷戦終結により、反社会主義の拠点としての意義が薄れた93年、一時、野党に転落した。が、94年以降、再び政権に復帰した。極東には北朝鮮と中国の脅威が残り、経済成長がなお国策だったからだ。
その自民党の基盤は、国会議員と官僚、業界団体の強力な同盟だった。党と官僚が経済成長と分配を保証し、その見返りとして業界団体が自民党の選挙を支援する。この「黄金循環」システムは、高度経済成長時代の60年代に確立し、日本社会に深く根を下ろした。
73年の石油ショックを契機に経済成長は鈍化した。90年代初めのバブル崩壊で経済はいっそう沈滞。自民党は国債を増発して公共事業を拡大し、なお経済成長を追求した。その結果、無駄なダムや空港、港湾、道路が延々とつくり続けられ、環境破壊が進み、国と自治体の財政悪化を招いた。
この悪循環を断ち切ろうとしたのが小泉である。緊縮財政路線を採り、高度成長期の惰性を止められない官僚組織の改革を進めた。これによって政官財の同盟は崩れた。自治体財政健全化などを理由に全国規模で推進した市町村合併も響いた。地域に根を張っていた自民党の市町村議会議員が激減し、自民党の基盤が急速に弱まった。
緊縮政策への不満が噴き出し、小泉の後継者たちが方向性を見失って混乱する中で、小泉と同様、行政改革に的を絞って政策を練ったのが民主党だ。結党10年。若い議員が大半を占め、小沢一郎前代表が「力量不足」と認めた政党でもある。
北朝鮮と中国に対する日本人の警戒は依然根強い。グローバル経済の動揺が続く中で、多くの人々が、実績のある自民党になお信頼を寄せていた。その信頼を軽蔑に変えたのが、度重なる首相交代、麻生太郎首相の漢字読み間違え、ローマのＧ７における中川昭一財務相の酩酊記者会見などである。
もはや自民党には恃むに足る人物がいないという確信が巷に広がり、有権者の支持を民主党へ向かわせた。こうして政権を握った民主党がひとまず、環境保護と行政改革に取り組んでいる現状である。
その民主党も経済成長と環境保護の関係を明確に整理できたわけではない。米軍に依存しつつ平和の仲介者を名乗るという矛盾も整理できていない。これらの課題に答えを出し、「ポスト戦後」時代の国策を示せるかどうかが問われている。
（筆者は毎日新聞 専門編集委員。）
一般社団法人 日本英語交流連盟