• Search Research Projects
  • Search Researchers
  • How to Use
  1. Back to previous page

Electoral Coordination in a Multi-level Context: Analysis of Candidate Manifestos in Japanese Subnational Elections

Research Project

Project/Area Number 20K01445
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Section一般
Review Section Basic Section 06010:Politics-related
Research InstitutionKyoto University

Principal Investigator

Hijino Ken  京都大学, 法学研究科, 教授 (90738311)

Project Period (FY) 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2023)
Budget Amount *help
¥3,250,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥750,000)
Fiscal Year 2022: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Fiscal Year 2021: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Fiscal Year 2020: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000)
Keywordssubnational elections / manifestos / multilevel / second order / decentralisation / ideology / depopulation / rural politics / sunbnational elections / decentralization / local elections / party organizations
Outline of Research at the Start

The project will be the first of its kind comprehensively analyzing multi-arena electoral campaigning dynamics through the systematic collection, coding, and comparing of senkyo koho at prefectural and municipal level for assembly and chief executive elections in Japan.

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The project comprehensively analyzed multi-level electoral campaigning dynamics through the systematic collection, coding, and comparing of candidate manifestos at prefectural and municipal level for assembly and chief executive elect ions in Japan.

Based on this data set, I conducted analysis in five separte areas: 1) when and how gubernatorial candidates "naitonalise" local elections; 2) strategies of blame avoidance and credit claiming in response to Covid-19 among gubernatorial candidates; 3) comparison of the conflict dimensions and ideological orientations of gubernatorial candidates in comparison with the national level; 4) comparison of the discursive themes, assumptions, and contestation for a key policy issue - rural in-migration - at both national and municipal level; 5) and the ideological orientation of municipal mayoral eleciton candidates around the issue of depopulation and rural in-migration.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

Our findings about the multilevel strategies, ideological orientation, and conflict dimensions of candidates for subnational elections point to a range of implications for the quality of accountability, competitiveness, and responsiveness in Japan's democratic representation.

Report

(5 results)
  • 2023 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report ( PDF )
  • 2022 Research-status Report
  • 2021 Research-status Report
  • 2020 Research-status Report
  • Research Products

    (9 results)

All 2023 2022 2021 2020

All Journal Article (4 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 1 results,  Peer Reviewed: 3 results) Presentation (5 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 4 results,  Invited: 3 results)

  • [Journal Article] Blaming, Claiming Credit, or Rallying across Levels: Subnational Candidate Strategies during the Covid-19 Crisis in Japan2023

    • Author(s)
      Ken Victor Leonard Hijino and Hideo Ishima
    • Journal Title

      選挙研究 39. 1. 51-66

      Volume: 39.1 Pages: 51-66

    • Related Report
      2023 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] The politics of depopulation in Japanese municipalities: Ideas and underlying ideologies2023

    • Author(s)
      Hijino Ken Victor Leonard
    • Journal Title

      Contemporary Japan

      Volume: online first Issue: 2 Pages: 1-22

    • DOI

      10.1080/18692729.2023.2191478

    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] Multi-level muddling: Candidate strategies to “nationalize” local elections2021

    • Author(s)
      Ken Victor Leonard Hijino and Hideo Ishima
    • Journal Title

      Electoral Studies

      Volume: Volume 70 Pages: 102281-102281

    • DOI

      10.1016/j.electstud.2021.102281

    • Related Report
      2020 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] What drives Japanese regional elections? Multilevel factors and partisan independents2020

    • Author(s)
      Ken Victor Leonard Hijino
    • Journal Title

      Regional and Federal Studies

      Volume: online first Issue: 3 Pages: 419-432

    • DOI

      10.1080/13597566.2020.1840367

    • Related Report
      2020 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] Ideologies in Japanese Subnational Elections: Textual Content Analysis of Japanese Gubernatorial Candidate Manifestos2023

    • Author(s)
      Ken Victor Leonard Hijino and Hideo Ishima
    • Organizer
      European Association of Japanese Studies
    • Related Report
      2023 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] The Politics of Attracting Residents to Depopulating Municipalities in Japan2023

    • Author(s)
      Ken Victor Leonard Hijino
    • Organizer
      Urban rural migration in Japan and Europe: Transnational and comparative perspectives" International Symposium hosted by GEAS FUB and JDZB
    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
  • [Presentation] 'Populationism' and the politics of depopulation in Japanese municipalities2023

    • Author(s)
      Ken Victor Leonard Hijino
    • Organizer
      Local Self-organization and Civic Engagement in Regional: DIJ Conference
    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] "Deviating" ideologies in Japanese gubernatorial elections2022

    • Author(s)
      Ken Victor Leonard Hijino
    • Organizer
      VSJF
    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
  • [Presentation] The Politics of Repopulating Japanese Municipalities2021

    • Author(s)
      Ken Victor Leonard Hijino
    • Organizer
      International Political Science Association 2021 World Congress
    • Related Report
      2021 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research

URL: 

Published: 2020-04-28   Modified: 2025-01-30  

Information User Guide FAQ News Terms of Use Attribution of KAKENHI

Powered by NII kakenhi