首長選挙における無投票当選の発生要因

抄録

　Uncontested local mayoral elections have been common for at least 20 years in Japan. These days, about 25% of the City mayors was elected without a vote. This paper examines the determinant factor of uncontested local mayoral elections from 2010 to 2014 empirically. The main conclusions of the study are as follows: First, the probability of uncontested mayoral elections is unlikely to be higher, when the ruling and opposition party support the same candidate. Second, the probability of uncontested mayoral elections is likely to be higher, when incumbents run for a second term or more to a forth term or less. Third, this study found that four-year average uncontested mayoral elections rate in the prefecture significantly explains the prefectural-level differences of uncontested mayoral elections using multilevel analysis.