What is the 1955 system in Japan?

The 1955 system (55年体制) refers to the political system in Japan since 1955 in which the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has successively held a majority government with opposition parties incapable of forming a significant alternative. Japan is also seen as a form of a dominant-party state.

How is Japan ruled today?

Japan has a parliamentary system of government like Britain and Canada. Unlike the Americans or the French, the Japanese do not elect a president directly. Diet members elect a prime minister from among themselves. The prime minister forms and leads the cabinet of ministers of state.

What happened to the LDP in Japan?

Seven opposition parties—including several formed by LDP dissidents—formed a government headed by LDP dissident Morihiro Hosokawa of the Japan New Party. However, the LDP was still far and away the largest party in the House of Representatives, with well over 200 seats; no other party crossed the 80-seat mark.

Why did the LDP lose power in 1993?

Scandals regularly plagued LDP governments, but the party lost power only in 1993, when several groups of LDP representatives defected from the party to form new conservative political parties. In elections held that year, the LDP lost its majority in the House of Representatives and—for the first time in its history—control of the government.

What was the Jiyutō (Liberal Party)?

These parties formed before Japan even had a constitution, a parliament, or elections and were primarily protest groups against the government. One of these was the Jiyūtō ( Liberal Party ), formed in 1881, which advocated a radical agenda of democratic reform and popular sovereignty.

What was the main political party in Japan in the 1950s?

Its leaders in the 1950s also made the LDP the main government party, and in all the elections of the 1950s, the LDP won the majority vote, with the only other opposition coming from the left-wing politics, made up of the Japan Socialist Party and the Japanese Communist Party .