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Mono no aware: En teoriprövande studie av Liberaldemokraterna som statsbärande parti och dess fall under 2000-talet

Källman, Love LU (2025) STVK04 20242
Department of Political Science
Abstract
The historical dominance of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) is generally regarded as having come to an end around the turn of the century. Some have attributed this dominance to hyper-targeted clientelism enabled by incumbency resource advantages, as K. F Greene’s (2007) resource-theory of single party dominance suggests. As such, the fall of the LDP would be explained by the loss of access to resources. This case study aims to test the theory by applying it to the same party in the contemporary context. By measuring electoral performance and dominance in elections, starting in 1996 and ending in 2024 - as well as comparing this data with statistics on party revenues, donations and clientelist tendencies - the study concludes... (More)
The historical dominance of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) is generally regarded as having come to an end around the turn of the century. Some have attributed this dominance to hyper-targeted clientelism enabled by incumbency resource advantages, as K. F Greene’s (2007) resource-theory of single party dominance suggests. As such, the fall of the LDP would be explained by the loss of access to resources. This case study aims to test the theory by applying it to the same party in the contemporary context. By measuring electoral performance and dominance in elections, starting in 1996 and ending in 2024 - as well as comparing this data with statistics on party revenues, donations and clientelist tendencies - the study concludes that the level of access to resources is not necessarily a significant causal factor for the LDP’s dominance or fall during this period. The author instead suggests that electoral reform contributing to lowering the efficiency of targeted clientelism, as well as the alienation of key electorate groups may be a more likely explanation. The author encourages further research into resource-based electoral dominance in cases not normally associated with clientelism, such as the Social Democratic Party of Sweden. (Less)
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author
Källman, Love LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK04 20242
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
statsbärande parti, LDP, Japan, resursteori, väljarbeteende, klientelism
language
Swedish
id
9179518
date added to LUP
2025-03-04 12:56:08
date last changed
2025-03-04 12:56:08
@misc{9179518,
  abstract     = {{The historical dominance of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) is generally regarded as having come to an end around the turn of the century. Some have attributed this dominance to hyper-targeted clientelism enabled by incumbency resource advantages, as K. F Greene’s (2007) resource-theory of single party dominance suggests. As such, the fall of the LDP would be explained by the loss of access to resources. This case study aims to test the theory by applying it to the same party in the contemporary context. By measuring electoral performance and dominance in elections, starting in 1996 and ending in 2024 - as well as comparing this data with statistics on party revenues, donations and clientelist tendencies - the study concludes that the level of access to resources is not necessarily a significant causal factor for the LDP’s dominance or fall during this period. The author instead suggests that electoral reform contributing to lowering the efficiency of targeted clientelism, as well as the alienation of key electorate groups may be a more likely explanation. The author encourages further research into resource-based electoral dominance in cases not normally associated with clientelism, such as the Social Democratic Party of Sweden.}},
  author       = {{Källman, Love}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Mono no aware: En teoriprövande studie av Liberaldemokraterna som statsbärande parti och dess fall under 2000-talet}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}