Unveiling an Aloof Democracy: Voting Apathy in 21st Century Japan

Abstract

On April 10, 1946, when Japan held its first general election after the devastating World War II, 72.08 percent of eligible voters of the country that failed into the debris of war went out to cast their ballot (Nohlen et al., 2001). Since then, along with Japan's postwar development and prosperity, in the next 18 general elections until 1993, the turnout maintained high stably at around 70 to 75 percent. However, after the millennium's coming, the Japanese participatory attitude towards elections seemed to come to a changing point. The turnout in subsequent elections declined noticeably and then stagnated at lower than 60 percent, which was unmatchable with the late 20th century's level (Nohlen et al., 2001). Even worse, the turnout of the previous three consecutive elections became the lowest three in the contemporary Japanese history of democracy (Tomoko, 2021). Much academic literature interprets the drastic drop and continuous low turnout as a typical sign of growing voter apathy, which means the constituents lack interest and motivation to vote when elections come (Shade & Teruelle, 2014).

But why are there so many Japanese voters who lost interest in voting in recent elections? What is the cause of the growing “voting apathy,” and what could it mean to Japanese democracy and political development? Several factors could play critical roles, and they may compound and reinforce the effect of one another. The new electoral system could discourage some people from voting as it is institutionally disadvantageous to small parties and detrimental to political pluralism. The effect of institutional factors was amplified by the weakness of opposition parties from ideology to organization and internal unity, which then left voters with fewer feasible choices in elections. The increasing political alienation of young people should also be taken into account, as the drop in their turnout is the most significant in all age groups. Finally, the Japanese government, mostly led by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), could be likely to benefit from the status quo and therefore is reluctant to reform and actively encourage electoral participation.