Sustaining Coalition through Adaptive Electoral Alliance: Kōmeitōs Local Adjustment Mechanism in Electoral Cooperation with Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)

Abstract

This paper attempts to unravel how Japans Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Kōmeitō were able to sustain their coalition partnership over the past two decades despite policy and ideological incompatibilities. This paper argues that it is the mechanism of flexible adaptation installed at local levels that has enabled the Kōmeitō to avoid over-supporting the LDP counterpart and deter risks of cooperating with the senior partner in times of political crises. From the system of candidate recommendations to allocation of votes, the two parties operate under such a system that allows individuated incorporation of Kōmeitō votes on the one hand, and to delicately adjust the outflow of electoral resources through candidate-based support mechanism, on the other.