Elusive Democracy

1. The Decay of One-Party Rule Elusive Democracy

2. The Congress, Liberal Democratic, and Chinese Communist Parties • Origins and Structures – Congress and CCP have origins in Nationalist movements, have been led charismatic leaders, but have differed in their commitments to multi-party democracy • The Congress Party – Dominated politics from Swaraj to 1967 – India a one party dominant system until BJP won plurality in the LokSabha in the 1990s – Congress aggregated followers interests – Goals of party could be divided on policy but built consensus on staying in power – tensions emerged between forces of change and tradition • The Chinese Communist Party – Unlike Congress controlled party membership and made internal cohesion a higher priority – CCP membership a path to better educational and job opportunities – Relatively small proportion of population – Recent recruitment efforts have focused on increasing the number of educated individuals within the party – Development of wealth with economic reforms created alternative sources of opportunities and influence – Jiang Zemin reforms focused on bringing these new sources of power and influence into the party • The Liberal Democratic Party – LDP successfully aggregated interests from the 1950’s to 1990’s – Conservative parties merged in 1955 to create LDP as bulwark against unification of Socialists parties

3. Intraparty Factionalism • LDP Factions – Factions emphasized loyalty and line members up on the basis of superior-inferior with one person being on top of the hierarchy – koenkai are local support groups for factions – Koizumi bypassed factions weakening their influence but factions remain a part of the Japanese political system • Congress Party Factions – Traditional values have supported factions – factions expanded to maintain power and expanded across class and caste – Unlike her father, Indira Gandhi did not successfully mediate factional struggles and split the party – after 1999 with succession of Rajiv Gandhi’s widow, Sonia to lead the party Congress “was no longer a party but an undifferentiated, unanchored medley of individuals sustained by patronage • CCP Factions – Lowell Dittmer describes 1980s as era of Elite conflicts culminating with the sacking of Zhao Ziyang in 1989 – Jing Huang identified factions being associated with decentralized base area during Chinese Civil War – Mishu – Guangxi – problem of corruption • Factionalism, Party Stability, and Decline – Splits lead to decline of one party rule – Kanemaru Shin’s factions disintegration led to first non LDP government in Japan – 1993 – Factions officially prohibited in CCP but interest groups are accepted

4. Japan: Parties of the Left and Center • Socialists and Communists – Japanese Socialist Party founded in 1945 – split 1951 over peace treaty with U.S. – reunited 1955 – split in 1960 over factional issues – Opposition in 1970s-80s with 20% of vote in Diet elections – better in some local elections – gained seats in 1989 House of Councillors elections - transformed itself into the Japanese Social Democratic Party 1991 -1996 and joined coalition government in 1994 – abandoned opposition to Self Defense Forces – made some gains in getting compensation for atomic bomb victims and comfort women – Japanese Communist Party established in 1922 – never did better than 12% of votes in Diet elections – bellwether of voter dissatisfaction with establishment parties – Both left wing parties have declining memberships and aging leadership • Buddhists and “Democrats” in the Floating Center – Komeito established in mid 1960s as offshoot of SokaGakkai as a political party hoping to infuse Buddhist values into politics – voters included less educated, low income, and female voters – joined Hosokawa government in coalition in 1993 and Shinshinto in mid 1990s – Party reestablished as New Komeito in 1999 and have been coalition partner for LDP-led governments – Religious Corporation Law passed in 1995 as possible attack on SokaGakkai’s links to New Komeito • The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) – Democratic Party of Japan was created in the 90s as an offshoot of an LDP faction led by Ozawa Ichiro – reorganized in 2003 by combining with small liberal party – 5 different Presidents between 2003 -2008 – Won majority in House of Councillors in 2007 – LDP replaced by DPJ in 2009

5. India: The BJP – From Opposition to Coalition Governments • Over 50 parties contested 2009 LokSabha Elections • BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) – Established 1980 – emphasize cultural themes (Hindutva and swadeshi) – High point in LokSabha elections with 25.6% of vote – support heavily concentrated in North, west, and central states – strengths include clearly stated principles, cohesiveness of organization and probity, grassroots mobilization, and ability to exploit religious sentiments – anti-minority, Chauvinistic party – lost leadership of governing coalition to Congress in 2004 elections – largest opposition party to Congress • Coalition Partners: Class, Caste, and Region – Coalition parties a fact of life for the future – Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India Marxist are two durable parties along with other culture/language and caste based parties

6. Coalition Politics • Parties moderate platforms to hold coalitions together • Prime Minister Vajpayee held back on legislation to permit construction and held hard line positions on foreign policy issues to meet needs of coalitions • Even under one of Japan’s strongest Prime Ministers, Junichiro Koizumi, immobilism occurred in Japan preventing needed economic reforms

7. China’s Other Parties • Democratic parties under the leadership of the Communist party are part of Chinese Constitution – Reinforced in 1993 by National People’s Congress • Eight small democratic parties with pre-1949 roots • CCP ideology, Confucian tradition and commitment to harmony and bad experience with multi-party style democracy are impediments to development of a genuine multi-party system • Chinese Democratic Party found in 1998 but by the end of 1999 its leaders were in jail under charges for trying to overthrow the government • NPC reaffirmed CCPs monopoly on power in 2009

8. Election Dynamics • FPTP in India – First past the post electoral system in LokSabha benefits Congress – it is possible for a party to win more seats than votes – in 1999 this dynamic benefited BJP at Congresses expense • Controversy in Japan – Multi-member districts believed to perpetuate factionalism and money in politics – 1996 house election system used single member districts/ proportional representation system with 300 SMC seats and 200 PR seats • Local Elections in China – Local elections meant to enhance legitimacy and credibility of one party system – 1979, 1987, and 1998 election laws produced – What expectations do voters bring to these elections – elections may lead to corruption or to strengthening the rule of law

9. Summary • Self-interest, corruption, and factionalism have stifled governance in India, Japan, and China • Local election open promise for China • Multi-party elections in India give voice to millions • Japan has maintained a model of multiparty democracy despite immobilism