Separating Faction from Fiction : How the Past Helps Explain the Present and Possible Future of Factions in Japan's Liberal Democratic Party

This article proceeds as follows.The next section defines the term "faction" and considers its general types, functions, origins and consequences.The third section reviews the literature on the history of the LDP' s factions during the period of one-party rule, also known as the 1955 system period, and then considers their type, functions and explanations for their emergence and persistence over this period as well as accounts of their consequences for Japanese politics.The fourth section reviews what scholars have to say about how factions have fared over the past three decades under a transformed electoral and campaign finance system as well as party leadership that has alternated between hostility and encouragement towards factions.In particular, comparisons are made between how factionalism worked under the 1955 system and during this more recent period to uncover clues regarding the underlying level of stability of factions within the party in the latter period.The fifth Separating Faction from Fiction: How the Past Helps Explain the Present and Possible Future of Factions in Japan' s Liberal Democratic Party of society, including ethnic and religious groups.Fourth, factions serve as educational and information-sharing entities that help their junior members learn from the past experiences of veteran members and to obtain information from the higher echelons of the party elite.Finally, as a member spends time in a faction and experiences its benefits in the above areas, membership may provide for the identity or emotional needs necessary for establishing a sense of community and belonging.Scholars are no more divided on topics related to the study of factions than they are with regard to theories regarding their origins and general impacts on politics.First, as Kllner and Basedau (2005) note, "there is so far no consensus on which factors should be regarded as decisive" with regard to the origins and development of factions. 7One might expect that the presence of stark cleavages in a society, a culture that encourages clientelism or the advent of new political ideas to which politicians must react would favor the development of factions in political parties. 8In addition, formal institutions, such as laws that forbid party-switching or certain rules governing the electoral system, have also been linked to the development of factionalism in case studies, although there is disagreement about which electoral rules matter most. 9Finally, scholars have tied the development of factionalism with characteristics of the party system and of individual parties.Party systems with high levels of polarization and small numbers of parties can be seen to favor factionalism, although the significance of the latter claim has been called into doubt. 10Elements of party organization, such as the level of control by party leadership of party finances, the presence or absence of local branches, and the level of centralization in party organization, have also been cited as potential factors, but empirical research has questioned many of these hypotheses. 11In addition, dominant party systems, in which one party repeatedly wins competitive elections and thus enjoys a prolonged period in power, have been linked with 7 Kllner & Basedau, 2005, p.16.