JAPAN MOVES CLOSER TO BECOMING A TRUE DEMOCRACY: MOVING FROM A ONE-PARTY TO A TWO-PARTY SYSTEM WITH ALTERNATION IN POWER

In August 2009, Japan finally joined the ranks of fully democratic nations---fully 64 years after the end of World War II. While Japan has been a "democracy" since the late 1940s, it lacked one essential ingredient of a full democracy, alternation in power among its major political parties as a result of general elections outcomes. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), formed in 1955, had never lost power on the national level since its formation as a result of an election defeat. The Democratic Party (DP) won a landslide victory in the House of Representatives elections at the end of August, 2009 and its leader, Yukio Hatoyama, became prime minister and formed a non-LDP cabinet. With this historic outcome, has Japan finally become a two party nation? Has Japan established a normal tradition of alternation of political elites in power? Not yet! This should be viewed as a great opportunity to finish the democracy building process started by General Douglas MacArthur in 1945. The DPJ, if it is successful, will establish the principle that the long term opposition can govern effectively and deserves the publics periodic support. If it fails, Japan could easily return to the one-party electoral domination of the LDP as the only group of political elites capable of governing Japan. The next several years will be very important for the future political direction of Japanese politics and the likely outcome of this process is very uncertain.