Faction - Habatsu

A small group formed within a group by people who share common origins, qualifications, interests, beliefs, likes and dislikes, in order to influence the trends of the group as a whole. In particular, personal connections within political parties are generally called factions, as they hinder the party's rational decision-making, actual actions, and personnel allocation. Political party factions have the main function of distributing benefits such as funds and positions within the framework of a single party, which makes them different from splinter groups. A splinter group is a small group that aims to change the overall course of a group based on certain beliefs, and in some cases is not averse to splitting the group.

The prevailing view regarding factions in Japanese political parties and companies is that they are a pre-modern, pathological phenomenon, but there are also views that they should be repositioned as universal small groups in a managed society, and that they function to contribute to improving the vitality of the group as a whole. A well-known example of party factions is that of the Liberal Democratic Party. The LDP's factions initially started out as eight groups (the so-called eight divisions), which were later reorganized into five major factions, but their numbers have increased and decreased depending on changes in powerful people and the political situation. Some have viewed factions as disappearing with the change in the electoral system, the introduction of the single-seat constituency system, but they have maintained their function as an institution for allocating positions, and have continued to exist, albeit with a decline in cohesion and increasing fluidity.

[Tadashi Fujii and Hitoshi Igarashi]

"Modern Organization Theory" by Ishida Yu (1961, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Sociology of Political Party Factions" by Iyasu Tadashi (1983, Sekaishisosha)" ▽ "Political Party Factions: A Comparative Political Study" edited by Nishikawa Tomokazu and Kawata Junichi (1996, Minerva Shobo)" ▽ "Human Relationships in a Vertical Society" by Nakane Chie (Kodansha Gendai Shinsho)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ある集団のなかで、出身、資格、利害、主張、好悪などを共通にする者が、集団全体の動向に影響を与えるために形成した小集団。とくに政党内の私的な人的結合を、党の合理的な意思決定、実際行動、人材配置を阻害するものとして、派閥とよぶのが一般的である。政党の派閥は、一つの党の枠内における資金や役職などの利得の配分をおもな機能としており、その点で分派とは違う。分派は一定の主張のもとに全体の路線を改変することをねらい、場合によっては分裂をも辞さない小集団をさしている。

　日本の政党や企業における派閥については、前近代的な病理現象としてとらえる見解が有力であるが、管理社会に普遍的な小集団として位置づけ直し、集団全体の活力向上に資する機能を期待する見方もある。政党の派閥としては、自由民主党のそれがよく知られている。自民党の派閥は当初八つのグループ（いわゆる八個師団）から出発し、その後整理されて五大派閥となったが、実力者と政局の変化に応じて増減している。小選挙区制の導入という選挙制度の変更によって派閥はなくなるという見方もあったが、ポスト配分機関としての機能は維持され、凝集力の低下と流動化を強めながらも存続し続けた。

［藤井　正・五十嵐仁］

『石田雄著『現代組織論』（1961・岩波書店）』▽『居安正著『政党派閥の社会学』（1983・世界思想社）』▽『西川知一・河田潤一編著『政党派閥――比較政治学的研究』（1996・ミネルヴァ書房）』▽『中根千枝著『タテ社会の人間関係』（講談社現代新書）』

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