Liberal Democratic Party

Japanese: 自由民主党 - じゆうみんしゅとう

Abbreviated as the Liberal Democratic Party. A conservative political party formed in November 1955 by the merger of Yoshida Shigeru and Ogata Taketora's Liberal Party and Hatoyama Ichiro's Japan Democratic Party. Its platform included the completion of a culturally democratic nation, the completion of freedom and independence, the stability of people's lives, and the completion of a welfare state. The formation of the Japan Socialist Party by the merger of the two left and right factions in October of the same year shocked the conservative camp, and the conservative merger was realized due to strong demands, especially from the business world, which wanted a stable conservative government (the 1955 system). As a result, the number of members of the House of Representatives increased to 300, and on this basis, the third Hatoyama Ichiro cabinet was formed. In April 1956, Hatoyama became the party president, and in the platform, he advocated constitutional reform and the maintenance of the security system. Later, Ishibashi Tanzan (December 1956), Kishi Nobusuke (1957), and Ikeda Hayato (1960) each became president and formed a cabinet. Ikeda advocated a policy of doubling income and put the country on track for high economic growth, but later factional strife intensified, centering on the conflict between Eisaku Sato, a bureaucrat faction, and Ichiro Kono, a party faction. With Ikeda's recommendation, Sato became prime minister and party president in 1964. The LDP also won the largest party in the general election at the end of 1969, and the third Eisaku Sato cabinet was formed in January 1970. Sato was elected president for the fourth time in October of the same year, but resigned in June 1972 and was replaced by Kakuei Tanaka. In 1974, Tanaka resigned due to criticism of the party's financial and money-producing nature. Miki Takeo was elected president in his place, but in 1976, a maneuver to remove Miki from the party over its handling of the Lockheed scandal led to Fukuda Takeo taking over. In the same year, Yohei Kono and others left the party and formed the New Liberal Club. In 1978, the first presidential election with participation from all party members was held, and Ohira Masayoshi was inaugurated as president. After that, Suzuki Zenko, Nakasone Yasuhiro, Takeshita Noboru, Uno Sosuke, Kaifu Toshiki, Miyazawa Kiichi, and Kono Yohei were inaugurated as presidents. From 1983 to 1986, a coalition government was formed with the New Liberal Club, but the LDP's long-term sole rule was supported by a system of vote-gathering and profit-sharing through cooperation with each faction's supporters' association and industry group, based on the premise of linking with the bureaucratic organizations of the ministries and agencies. The long-term monopoly on politics inevitably brought about various forms of corruption. In 1993, the split between the Shinseito and New Party Sakigake meant that the LDP was unable to maintain a majority in the House of Representatives, and it became an opposition party with the formation of a non-LDP coalition government headed by Hosokawa Morihiro. However, in 1994, the LDP returned to power in a coalition with the Japan Socialist Party and the New Party Sakigake. In 1995, Ryutaro Hashimoto became president, and in 1996, following the resignation of Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, he restored the LDP-led administration. Hashimoto led the cabinet until the second term, but after the LDP suffered a major defeat in the July 1998 House of Councillors election, he resigned as president and the entire cabinet resigned at the same time, and Keizo Obuchi became president of the LDP and prime minister. The Obuchi Keizo cabinet was initially formed by the LDP alone, but in 1999 it formed a coalition with the Liberal Party and then the Komeito Party. In 2000, Prime Minister Obuchi resigned due to hospitalization due to illness, and the Yoshiro Mori cabinet was formed, but it suffered low approval ratings, and Junichiro Koizumi was elected president and prime minister in 2001, and was re-elected in 2003. In 2005, the party won a landslide victory in the House of Representatives election (postal election), but in 2007, Shinzo Abe, who was appointed president and prime minister after Koizumi's retirement, suffered a crushing defeat in the House of Councillors election, and for the first time since the party's founding, it lost its position as the largest party in the House of Councillors. Since then, the party has seen its president and prime minister change hands every year, with Fukuda Yasuo and Aso Taro, and its approval ratings have slumped. In the August 2009 general election for the House of Representatives, the party won 119 seats, a historic defeat to the Democratic Party, and it fell into the opposition. However, in the July 2010 House of Councillors election, the party won 51 seats, becoming the largest party up for re-election and forcing the ruling party to lose its majority in the House of Councillors. The party also won local elections, and its strength began to recover. In the December 2012 House of Representatives election, the LDP won 294 seats under the leadership of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who succeeded Sadakazu Tanigaki, regaining the position of the leading party, and inaugurated the second Abe Cabinet in a coalition with the Komeito Party. The LDP won a landslide victory in terms of the number of seats, but the voter turnout was the lowest ever at 59.32%, down 10 points from the previous election, which saw a historic change of power, and the LDP also lost votes in the proportional representation district. This was because independent voters who supported the Democratic Party last time were disappointed with the Democratic Party administration and did not vote, and the LDP was able to reap the benefits of the situation, as new parties and minor parties as a third force emerged in large numbers, without the issues of the election being focused on. In the July 2013 House of Councillors election, the LDP won 65 seats, the most under the current system, and returned to the position of the leading party in the House of Councillors, with the ruling LDP-Komeito coalition holding a majority. In the December 2014 Lower House election, the LDP won 291 seats, exceeding the 266 seats required for a stable majority, and together with Komeito, the ruling party won more than two-thirds of the seats. However, the turnout rate for this Lower House election was also the lowest on record at 52.66%, far below the 59.32% recorded in the previous election in 2012, which was the lowest since the war.
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Source : Heibonsha Encyclopedia About MyPedia Information

Japanese:

自民党と略称。1955年11月吉田茂・緒方竹虎の自由党と鳩山一郎の日本民主党とが合同して結成された保守政党。綱領は，文化的民主国家の完成，自由独立の完成，民生の安定と福祉国家の完成など。同年10月の左右両派合同による日本社会党結成は保守陣営に衝撃を与え，特に保守政権の安定を望む財界からの強い要求もあって保守合同が実現した（55年体制）。この結果衆議院議員は300名となり，これを基盤に第三次鳩山一郎内閣が成立。1956年４月鳩山が党総裁に就任し，綱領に憲法改正，安保体制堅持などをかかげた。のち石橋湛山(たんざん)（1956年12月），岸信介（1957年），池田勇人(はやと)（1960年）がそれぞれ総裁となり組閣。池田は所得倍増政策をかかげ高度経済成長を軌道にのせたが，のち官僚派の佐藤栄作と党人派の河野一郎との対立を中心に派閥抗争が激化，池田の推薦で1964年佐藤が首相，総裁となる。　自民党は1969年末の総選挙でも第一党となり1970年１月第三次佐藤栄作内閣が成立，さらに同年10月佐藤は４度総裁に選ばれたが，1972年６月辞任，代わって田中角栄が総裁に選出された。1974年，金権・金脈体質を指弾されて田中角栄総裁が辞任。代わって三木武夫が総裁に選ばれたが，1976年のロッキード事件の処理をめぐって党内で三木降し工作が行われ福田赳夫(たけお)に代わった。同年，河野洋平らは離党し新自由クラブを結成。1978年，初の全党員参加による総裁選挙が行われ，大平正芳が総裁に就任。その後，鈴木善幸(ぜんこう)，中曾根康弘，竹下登，宇野宗佑(そうすけ)，海部俊樹，宮沢喜一，河野洋平が総裁に就任。1983年―1986年には新自由クラブとの連立内閣を結成したが，長期間の実質的な自民党一党支配は，省庁の官僚機構との結合を前提に，派閥ごとの後援会や業界団体との連携を介する集票と利益分配のシステムに支えられてきた。長期にわたる政権独占は必然的にさまざまの腐敗をもたらした。　1993年，新生党，新党さきがけの分離により衆議院で過半数を維持できず，細川護煕(もりひろ)を首班とする非自民連立内閣の成立により野党となった。しかし1994年日本社会党，新党さきがけと連立し与党に復帰。1995年橋本龍太郎が総裁に就任，1996年村山富市首相の辞任を受けて首相について自民党主導の政権を復活させた。橋本は第二次まで内閣を率いたが，1998年７月の参議院選挙で自民党が大敗したため総裁を辞任，同時に内閣総辞職し，自民党総裁，内閣総理大臣には小渕恵三(おぶちけいぞう)が就任した。小渕恵三内閣は，発足当初は自民党単独であったが，1999年に自由党，さらに公明党と連立した。2000年小渕首相の病気入院による退陣を受けて森喜朗内閣が成立したが，低支持率に陥り，2001年に小泉純一郎が総裁・首相に選出，2003年再選された。2005年に衆議院選挙（郵政選挙）で圧勝したが，2007年小泉退任後総裁・首相に選任された安倍晋三は，参議院選挙で惨敗し結党以来初めて，参議院で第一党から転落，その後，福田康夫，麻生太郎と総裁・首相が毎年替わる事態が続き，支持率が低迷。2009年８月の衆議院総選挙で，獲得議席119で，民主党に歴史的な大敗を喫し，野党に転落した。しかし，2010年７月の参議院選挙で51議席を獲得，改選第一党となり，与党を参院過半数割れに追い込んだ。さらに地方選でも勝利し党勢を回復基調とした。2012年12月の衆院選では，谷垣禎一の後を襲った安倍晋三総裁のもとで294議席を獲得，第一党の座を奪還，公明党との連立で第二次安倍晋三内閣を発足させた。議席数では自民党の圧勝となったが，投票率は歴史的な政権交代となった前回に比べて10ポイント下落の59.32％と過去最低であり，自民党も比例区の得票を減らす結果となっている。これは前回民主党を支持した無党派層が民主党政権に失望して投票に行かず，さらに第３極の新党や少数政党が乱立して選挙戦の争点が焦点化されないまま，自民党が漁夫の利を得た結果。2013年７月の参院選では自民党が現行制度下では最多となる65議席を獲得し参議院でも第一党に返り咲き，自公与党が多数を占める。2014年12月の衆院選では単独で絶対安定多数の266を超える291議席となり政権与党としては公明と合わせて議席数の３分の２を超える。ただしこの衆院選の投票率も，戦後最低だった前回2012年の59.32％を大きく下回る52.66％で最低記録を更新した。
→関連項目池田勇人内閣｜石橋湛山内閣｜宇都宮徳馬｜宇野宗佑内閣｜大平正芳内閣｜岡田克也｜小沢一郎｜海部俊樹内閣｜岸信介内閣｜自由党（日本）｜新進党｜鈴木善幸内閣｜竹下登内閣｜武村正義｜田中角栄内閣｜中曾根康弘内閣｜二階堂進｜日本｜日本維新の会｜橋下徹｜橋本龍太郎内閣｜羽田孜｜鳩山由紀夫｜福田赳夫内閣｜藤山愛一郎｜細川護煕内閣｜松村謙三｜三木武夫内閣｜宮沢喜一内閣｜民主党（日本）｜村山富市内閣｜森喜朗

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