Democratisation in Post-war Japan and the Rise and Fall of Social Democracy

The state of Japanese democracy is often explained by a system of clientelism that keeps the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in a dominant position despite its shortcomings, notably structural corruption. This paper takes an alternative perspective and identifies the failure of Japanese social democracy as a key factor for Japan’s incomplete democratisation thereby also refuting the widespread notion that ‘true’ social democrats never existed in Japan. It elucidates the contingent factors that inhibited this movement from evolving into a major political force, such as the international environment and leadership failures on the party and intra-party level of the Japanese Left. The following milestones are discussed: The abortive first socialist-led government in 1948, radicalisation due to the wars in Korea and Vietnam, and the failures of the Democratic Socialist Party (1960-92) and the Structural Reform Faction in the early 1960s. I argue that the demise of social democracy prevented a more thorough democratisation not only by facilitating one-party rule but also by allowing the LDP to pursue policies resulting in persisting gender inequalities, structural discrimination of minorities, and a highly unequal labour-market.