Waka in Japan: Is Party Defection in Japanese Electoral Politics a Boon or Bust?

Waka in Japan: Is Party Defection in Japanese Electoral Politics a Boon or Bust?

Garrett Bredell - Japan Foundation CGP Postdoctoral Associate in East Asian Studies

Tuesday, October 8, 2019 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Room 202, Rosenkranz Hall See map
115 Prospect Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Lunch will be served.

Legislators are typically members of political parties, but few democracies require legislators to remain with a single party. Legislators are free to switch from one political party to another between elections, but the consequences of party switching  remain unknown. Do voters reward party defection if it benefits themselves and their district? Or do they punish these defectors at the ballot box? This research looks at both the electoral and party-based outcomes of party defection. Using Japan as a primary case study, it explores whether party switchers benefit or suffer at the ballot box as a consequence of their defection, and whether they receive more party based based goods relative to party loyalists.  


Garrett Bredell is a CGP Japan Foundation Postdoctoral Associate, specializing in Comparative Politics with an emphasis on Parliamentary systems, voter behavior and democratic institutions. His current research examines the electoral and legislative costs of party switching, using Japan as a primary case study. 

Sponsored by The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership
Tags: 
Region: 
Japan