挙国一致内閣期の政党 : 立憲政友会と斎藤内閣

抄録

The political change after the "May 15 Incident" marked an important turning-point in the modern history of Japan. It put an end to party-based cabinets, a practice that had persisted for about eight years, and brought about "national cabinets," the first of which was formed under Saito Makoto. At that time the Seiyukai commanded an absolute majority in the Lower House (which actually did have wide legislative power), but from then on the importance of political parties declined. Political parties, especially the Seiyukai, could not regain power for the following reasons. The Seiyukai had to pay attention to the other party, the Minseito, as it feared that a determined opposition against the ministry would leave the Minseito as the ruling party. As such, the Minseito could have dissolved the Diet, thereby possibly damaging the Seiyukai. At the same time, the Seiyukai, itself bothered by factional disputes, feared that opposition against the ministry would further its own intra-party factional tensions and thus lead to a loss of the party's majority in the House. The Seiyukai did indeed hold institutional power, for it dominated the Lower House and thus held great legislative power. But, such power lasted only as long as the party's majority in the House lasted, and that majority could easily be lost in the event of the dissolution of the Diet or disunity inside its own ranks. Thus, the Seiyukai adopted the strategem of a "peaceful transfer" of power, whereby it would support the ministry over a certain period and then have power transferred to it in reward for this support. If such a strategy had proven successful, The Seiyukai could have regained power, maintained its party unity, and avoided the dissolution of the Diet. The Saito Cabinet, aware from the start of the party's weakness, intended to make a reverse use of this strategy to manipulate the party. Thus, the Seiyukai could not force the cabinet to accept a "peaceful transfer" of power, and so the party leaders' internal authority over party members declined. The dissenting faction within the Seiyukai then by itself virtually came to an agreement with the ministry. The Seiyukai thus split up and lost its majority in the House. The National Cabinet attempted to attain political stability by exploiting conflicts between the groups which supported the government and between the dissenting factions within these groups.