Abstract
This paper examines the impact that the Japanese electorate's negative party leader evaluation of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori had on its voting behavior in the 2000 General Election. The paper uses an eight-wave panel survey covering the period from 1993 to 2000. The last survey that we used most was conducted through mail survey immediately after the 2000 General Election.
We found that party leader evaluation did in fact affect voting behavior, with voting in proportional representation districts affected more significantly than voting in single-member districts. We also examined how party leader evaluation affected on split voting between proportional and single-member districts, and found that negative party leader evaluation was major cause of split voting. Finally, we found that party leader evaluation itself was affected most significantly by a series of problematic speeches Mori made in the run-up to the election.
