Japan Decides 2012

Preface List of Abbreviations Contributor Bios Introduction 1. Introduction 2. Japanese Politics Between the 2009 and 2012 Elections 3. Keeping It Together: Party Unity and the 2012 Election; Ben Nyblade 4. The Japanese General Election of 2012: The LDP Wins Big by Default PART I: POLITICAL PARTIES 5. The LDP's Path Back to Power: The Liberal Democratic Party; Masahisa Endo 6. The Remains of the DPJ: The Democratic Party of Japan; Robert Weiner 7. Challenging the Two-Party System: Third Force Parties in the 2012 Election 8. Komeito - In Search of Independence; Axel Klein PART II: CAMPAIGNING, CANDIDATES, AND DISTRICTS 9. Candidate Recruitment for the 2012 Election: New Parties, New Methods... Same Old Faces?; Dan Smith 10. New Inter-Election Campaign Tools; Kuniaki Nemoto 11. Malapportionment and the 2012 Election; Ray Christensen 12. What the 2012 Lower House Elections Has to Say about Japan's Urban-Rural Divide; Kay Shimizu 13. Campaign Finance Irregularities, Sex Scandals and the Election; Matt Carlson 14. Women Candidates and Political Parties in Election 2012; Sherry Martin Murphy PART III: GOVERNANCE AND POLICY 15. Foreign Policy as an Election Issue; Paul Midford 16. Election Surprise: Abenomics and Central Bank Independence Trump Nationalism and Fukushima; Yves Tiberghien 17. Right Rising? Ideology and the 2012 House of Representatives Election; Chris Winkler 18. Farmers, Agricultural Policies and the Election; Aurelia George Mulgan 19. Governance with a Twist: How Bicameralism affects Japanese Lawmaking; Michael Thies and Yuki Yanai