國立臺灣大學政治科學論叢

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Generally, observations of politics focus on political leaders. Japan, as a country with a cabinet system, designates the Prime Minister as the highest political leader, who is often concurrently the president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Therefore, the LDP presidential election becomes a focal point for observing Japanese politics.

Since the 1960s, political parties in democratic countries have increasingly been granting their members the right to participate in the election of party
leaders. In 1977, the LDP established a primary election system within its presidential election framework, allowing not only Diet members but also party members to participate in the presidential election. Why did the LDP, as a political party in democratic Japan, only establish a presidential primary system in 1977? And why was it amended after being implemented only twice? Previous research on the election of the party president mainly focused on the competitive relationships between factions. This paper intends to explain the selection of the president and the changes in LDP politics from a new perspective on the presidential election system.

This study finds that the reason behind the LDP’s establishment of the primary election system was a significant crisis in their governance due to a financial scandal. In order to regain public support, the LDP aimed to create an image of openness by granting party members the power to elect the party president. However, due to politicians’ personal political interests, the primary elections became a mechanism for factional expansion. This resulted in the system being abandoned after only two implementations and a return to a faction-based electoral system.