Researcher ORCID Identifier

0009-0007-9301-2420

Graduation Year

2026

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

International Relations

Reader 1

Tom Le

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Rights Information

© 2026 Maya W Maranto

Abstract

This thesis examines the proposition that the LDP utilizes money politics more than opposition parties in Japan, which could explain why the LDP has remained largely dominant since 1955. Focusing on the House of Representatives elections in 2017, 2021, and 2024, I analyze eight case studies, examine the University of Tokyo-Asahi Shimbun Elite Candidate Survey covering over 90 percent of candidates, and quantitatively analyze party manifestos. I operationalize money politics as reliance on support organizations, support for infrastructure and agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, and support for regional funding. I find that, all measures taken together, the LDP remains the most engaged in pork, and, by proxy, money politics.

However, this is not to say that the opposition does not support pork at all. On the contrary, different opposition parties seem more oriented towards different types of pork. I find that Reiwa is oriented towards infrastructure comparably to the LDP, and the CDP is comparatively oriented towards agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. Komeito also seems as supportive of infrastructure as the LDP, possibly giving credence to the theory that control of centralized funding is the key element of whether a party engages in pork. Even if the LDP engages in more pork than other parties, opposition parties still support different types of pork to varying extents.

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