Collecting original and high-quality analysis by top scholars from Japan, the United States, Australia, and Europe, this volume analyzes the results of the 2014 election, examining each of the major political parties, central policy issues, campaign practices, and considers how the results were used as a mandate for massive policy reform.

About the Author

Masahisa Endo, Lecturer at Faculty of Humanities and Economics, Kochi University, Japan Alisa Gaunder, Professor of Political Science, Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas Ken Victor Leonard Hijino, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Law, Kyoto University, Japan Llewelyn Hughes, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University (ANU) Fumi Ikeda, Chuo University, Japan Koji Kagotani, Lecturer, Faculty of Economics, Osaka University of Economics, Japan Saori N. Katada, Associate Professor, School of International Relations and the Director of the Political Science and International Relations (POIR) Program, University of Southern California, USA Jeff Kingston, Director of Asian Studies, Temple University, Japan Axel Klein, Professor of Modern East Asian Studies, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany Ellis S. Krauss, Emeritus Professor, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California San Diego, USA Patricia L. Maclachlan, Associate Professor of Government and Asian Studies, University of Texas, USA Yukio Maeda, Associate Professor, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, University of Tokyo, Japan Douglas M. Miller, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, USA Kenneth Mori McElwain, Associate Professor, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, Japan Gregory Noble, Professor of Politics and Public Administration, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, Japan Robert J. Pekkanen, Professor, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, and Adjunct Professor of Political Science and Sociology, University of Washington, USA Steven R. Reed, Professor of Modern Government, Chuo University, Japan Ethan Scheiner, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of California, Davis, USA Kay Shimizu, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University, USA Daniel M. Smith, Assistant Professor, Department of Government, Harvard University, USA Michael F. Thies, Associate Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Interdepartmental Programs for Global Studies and International & Area Studies, and past Director of the Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, UCLA, USA Scott Wilbur, Political Science and International Relations Program, University of Southern California, USA Joshua A. Williams, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, USA