Democrat Reform in Japan - Book Report/Review Example

 Democrat Reform in JapanThe essence of this chapter is the message given by the authors that campaign behavior can be framed and changed by the electoral reforms. However, electoral system reforms need to be evaluated along with the political life cycle of the candidates. Accordingly, authors have questioned possible elevation of democracy in Japan, when judging the campaign behavior under the new electoral system. Few case studies have been conducted to find the answers to such queries. Two elements that have been used, to measure the response of candidates to the electoral reforms, relate to direct and indirect mobilization strategies, referred as DMS and IMS.

(Martin & Steel, Democratic Reform in JAPAN, pages 39-47)Three case studiesThese refer to the candidature of Noboru Usami for Urban District, Shigefumi Matsuzawa for Suburban District and Koichiro Genba for Rural District . While DMS proved useful for Usami, he used momotaro –style canvassing in his each election campaign. As Matsuzawa also used DMS for his campaigns between 1993 and 1996, he resorted to aggressive organization and social networking expansion, particularly during his 1996 campaign, which meant utilizing IMS.

As Genba learnt lessons from his loss in 1996 elections, he extensively used the IMS strategy while heading the same with Koenkai roster, which included around 70000 reliable supporters. (Martin & Steel, Democratic Reform in JAPAN, pages 48-57)Use of IMSWith the successive elections in Japan during 1993, 1996 and 2000, the electoral process became more mature and it gave the candidates flexible choice to select between DMS and IMS. However, with advancement in technology and easier social networking, the IMS became most suitable choice for the campaign behavior.

The candidates’ political life cycle got, accordingly, hinged to IMS; as they could build a reliable coalition of supporters, over the period, which went beyond the fixed election schedules.(Martin & Steel, Democratic Reform in JAPAN, pages 58-63)WORKS-CITED.Martin S. L., & Steel Gill, Democratic Reform in JAPAN, pages 58-63, Accessed on 19th July, 2011 from: http://www.academia-research.com/filecache/instr/c/a/555036_campaign_behavior.pdf