Parliamentary Election, September 2005
By David Moon
Published September 25th 2005
The results of Japan�s September 2005 parliamentary elections have been held up by the Japanese media as demonstrating a stunning mandate for Prime Minster Junichiro Koizumi, leader of the nation�s Liberal Democratic Party. FairVote�s analysis of the election results, however, indicates that this mandate was far from clear, with Koizumi�s party in fact winning just 38% of the popular vote. As our International Spotlight research series demonstrates, time and again, a nation�s choice of electoral system often has just as much impact on the election results, as candidate or party popularity and other factors.
