國立臺灣大學政治科學論叢

Why was the second Abe administration able to govern with stability for a long period of time? Previous studies have mostly explained it by looking at the victory of the national elections and the dominance of the Prime Minister’s office. This article does not intend to deny or question the previous studies; however, it will focus on “non-responsive policy” to explain the reason for the long-term stability of the second Abe administration.

Previous studies have shown that the biggest difference between the second Abe administration and the first is that it worked on economic policies that catered to public opinion. However, this article found that during the second administration, Prime Minister Abe also successively promoted non-responsive policies. After the implementation of non-responsive policies, the support of the cabinet would fall; however, it was not long before the rate of support rose again. This pattern appeared repeatedly, which had rarely been seen in Japanese politics before. The main purpose of this article is to explore the reasons why Prime Minister Abe insisted on promoting “non-responsive policies” and how he maintained cabinet support.

This article found that Prime Minister Abe employed two strategies to maintain cabinet support. First, he would implement economic policies that catered to public opinion before the national elections, and then took advantage of the new public opinion after winning the election to promote non-responsive policies. Second, by promoting new policies or policy ideas, the second Abe administration shaped an image of being a proactive cabinet, which slowed down the impact of the non-responsive policies, and at the same time maintained a good impression of the regime in the eyes of the public.