Japan: Postwar Constitution and Dominant-Party Democracy

Japan's current constitution was drafted under the postwar Allied occupation and took effect on 3 May 1947. It transformed the emperor from a sovereign into 'the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people', placed sovereignty with the people and established a parliamentary system with a bicameral Diet. Article 9 renounces war as a sovereign right; Japan nonetheless created Self-Defense Forces in 1954, and the article's interpretation remains debated.

Japanese politics has been dominated by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), founded in 1955, which governed for most of the decades that followed, losing power only in 1993–94 and 2009–12 during its first seven decades. Scholars explain this dominance through factions within the LDP, close ties to business and the bureaucracy, rural support and a divided opposition. In 1994 Japan replaced its multi-member district system with a mixed system, aiming to make politics more party-centred and competitive.