Party System Fragmentation and Institutionalization: Japan's Party System in the 2010s
The paper analyzes the party system change at the level ofJapan's national politics. The party system after the 1990s can be classified into three periods according to some indicators to measure party system change. The present party system in the 2010s is characterized by the LDP dominance and fragmentation and fluidity of opposition parties. It is called "Abe ikkyō politics (安倍一強政治)" which means the LDP dominance under Abe administration. At the final section of the paper the problem of party system fragmentation and ruling party dominance is argued referring to the theory of party system institutionalization and democratic consolidation.