This paper examines basic but very important questions in the democratic process: do individual candidates represent the will of their own district constituency, even in a parliamentary system with well-disciplined legislative parties? The answer is clearly yes: this paper demonstrates dyadic...

This paper analyzes Japan's 1993 general election and the impact it had on the political culture of the nation. The paper begins by analyzing the dominance and corruption of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party prior to the election, before explaining the factors behind the electoral victory of...

This paper explores the role of mass media in people's perceptions of charismatic leaders, focusing on the case of Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006. Using survey data collected immediately after Koizumi's 2005 landslide electoral victory, this study empirically...