TOWARD A TWO-PARTY SYSTEM OR TWO PARTY SYSTEMS? Patterns of Competition in Japan’s Single-Member Districts, 1996–2005

This article examines whether electoral reform in Japan replacing a single non-transferable vote (SNTV) system with a parallel mixed system has led to two-party competition in single-member districts (SMDs) in House of Representative elections from 1996 to 2005. While nationwide figures suggest declining numbers of effective candidates and losers, distin-guishing SMDs by levels of urbanization reveals that this trend is largely limited to urban areas. Instead of converging toward a two-party system as many proponents of electoral reforms had anticipated, elections under the SMD portion of the new system have witnessed the emergence and continuation of two distinct patterns of competition: urban constitu-encies featuring contests between two major parties, and rural con-stituencies dominated by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The persistence of the latter pattern diminishes the prospect of power alter-nation. KEY WORDS bipolar competition electoral reform Japan single-member districts urban-rural difference