Constitutional Party

A conservative party that was as highly acclaimed as the Rikken Seiyukai Party from the Taisho to the early Showa eras. In the summer of 1916 (Taisho 5), toward the end of the second Okuma Shigenobu cabinet, the Minister of Education Takada Sanae took the lead, and the ruling parties Rikken Doshikai, Chuseikai, and a part of the Koyu Club merged to form the party on October 10th, with the aim of maintaining and strengthening the government. Kato Takaaki was appointed president, and in addition to Takada, Ozaki Yukio, Taketomi Tokitoshi, Wakatsuki Reijiro, Kataoka Naoharu, Hamaguchi Osachi, and Adachi Kenzo were appointed general affairs officers, making the party a large one with 199 members out of the 381 seats in the House of Representatives. When Prime Minister Okuma resigned, he recommended Kato as his successor, but the genro rejected Kato, and the Terauchi Masatake Cabinet was formed. The Kenseikai confronted the Terauchi Cabinet as an opposition party, and in alliance with the Rikken Kokuminto (Constitutional National Party), they forced the dissolution of the House of Representatives, but in the 13th general election in April 1945, they suffered a crushing defeat with only 121 votes, and in the 14th general election in May 1945, they were defeated with only 110 votes, and were forced to endure a "decade of hardship" as an opposition party under the rise of the Seiyukai (Japanese Friends of the Democratic Party). However, in February 1945, driven by the growing universal suffrage movement, they took the plunge into the idea of ​​immediate universal suffrage, and by criticizing the Siberian Intervention, advocating disarmament, and international cooperation, they partially represented democratic public opinion.

The Kenseikai was originally a conservative party representing the interests of the big bourgeoisie and landlords, but by demanding the above-mentioned political reforms, it succeeded in expanding its influence beyond the urban petty bourgeoisie and small and medium-sized bourgeoisie. From January to May 1924, together with the Seiyukai and the Kakushin Club, it led the second constitutional government defense movement, won a landslide victory in the 15th general election in May with 151 members, and in June established the first Kato Takaaki cabinet (the three constitutional protection cabinet), thus establishing party politics. It then came into conflict with the Seiyukai, and in August 1925 the Kenseikai alone formed the second Kato cabinet, but in January 1926 Prime Minister Kato died of illness, and Wakatsuki Reijiro became the second president of the party, inaugurating the first Wakatsuki cabinet and maintaining power. However, in April 1927 (Showa 2), after the outbreak of the financial panic, the Wakatsuki Cabinet resigned en masse in a dispute with the Privy Council over an emergency imperial ordinance to rescue the Bank of Taiwan, and the Seiyukai Party alone was formed under Prime Minister Tanaka Giichi. In order to counter the Tanaka Cabinet and the Seiyukai Party, the Kenseikai Party merged with the Seiyukai Party on May 31 to form the Rikken Minseito Party, thus ushering in an era of two major conservative parties.

[Junichiro Kizaka]

"The Constitutional Party History, compiled and published by the Constitutional Party History Compilation Office (1926)" ▽ "The Constitutional Party History of Japan, Volumes 7-9, by Junichiro Otsuka (1927, Hobunkan / Reprint edition, 1970, Hara Shobo)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

大正時代から昭和初頭にかけて立憲政友会と並び称された保守政党。第二次大隈重信(おおくましげのぶ)内閣末期の1916年（大正5）夏より高田早苗(さなえ)文相が中心となり、政権の維持と強化を目ざし、与党の立憲同志会と中正会、公友倶楽部(くらぶ)の一部が合同して10月10日に結成された。総裁には加藤高明(たかあき)、総務には高田のほか尾崎行雄(おざきゆきお)、武富時敏(たけとみときとし)、若槻礼次郎(わかつきれいじろう)、片岡直温(なおはる)、浜口雄幸(おさち)、安達謙蔵(あだちけんぞう)が就任し、衆議院議員定員381名中199名を擁する大政党となった。大隈首相は総辞職にあたり加藤を後任首相に推挙したが、元老は加藤を拒否し、寺内正毅(まさたけ)内閣が成立した。憲政会は野党として寺内内閣と対決し、立憲国民党と提携して衆議院解散に追い込んだが、17年4月の第13回総選挙では121名と惨敗を喫し、20年5月の第14回総選挙でも110名と敗北、政友会の隆盛のもとで野党として「苦節十年」を強いられた。しかし20年2月、高揚する普通選挙運動に突き上げられて普選即行論に踏み切り、シベリア出兵批判、軍備縮小、国際協調などを主張して民本主義的世論を部分的に代弁した。

　憲政会は本来、大ブルジョアジーと地主の利害を代表する保守政党であるが、上記のような政治革新を要求して都市小ブルジョアジーや中小ブルジョアジーのうえに党勢を拡張することに成功した。1924年1～5月、政友会、革新倶楽部とともに第二次憲政擁護運動を指導し、5月の第15回総選挙では151名と大勝、6月第一次加藤高明内閣（護憲三派内閣）を成立させ、政党政治を確立した。その後政友会と対立、25年8月には憲政会単独で第二次加藤内閣を組織したが、26年1月加藤首相が病死したため、若槻礼次郎が2代目総裁に就任し、第一次若槻内閣を発足させて政権を維持した。しかし若槻内閣は金融恐慌勃発(ぼっぱつ)後の27年（昭和2）4月、台湾銀行救済緊急勅令案をめぐって枢密院と対立して総辞職、政友会単独の田中義一(ぎいち)内閣が成立した。そこで憲政会は田中内閣と政友会に対抗するため、5月31日政友本党と合同し、立憲民政党を結成、ここに保守二大政党時代を迎えた。

［木坂順一郎］

『憲政会史編纂所編・刊『憲政会史』（1926）』▽『大津淳一郎著『大日本憲政史　第7～9巻』（1927・宝文館／復刻版・1970・原書房）』

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