This study employs survey data to characterize a new kind of strategic voting behavior in post-2012 Japan. Since the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) returned to power in 2012, it has been winning every national election, while the opposition camp has been fragmented into many parties, none of which has been seen as a viable contender to the LDP. In this situation in which the LDP will certainly win, there are citizens who vote for an opposition party, especially the largest one, though they do not believe it is capable of governing the country. Their concern is the balance of seats among the parties. These strategic voters tend to be older, more educated, richer, and more attentive to political news than those who genuinely support the opposition.
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November/December 2023
Research Article|
October 12 2023
Balance-Minded Voting in Post-2012 Japan: Why the Largest Opposition Party Receives Votes from Non-Supporters
Ko Maeda
Ko Maeda is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of North Texas, Denton, USA.
Email: [email protected].
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Email: [email protected].
Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the 2019 meeting of the American Political Science Association and the 2021 meeting of the American Political Science Association.
Asian Survey (2023) 63 (6): 934–951.
Citation
Ko Maeda; Balance-Minded Voting in Post-2012 Japan: Why the Largest Opposition Party Receives Votes from Non-Supporters. Asian Survey 1 December 2023; 63 (6): 934–951. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/as.2023.20087338
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University of California Press