The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has dominated Japanese politics since 1955, and the party’s even greater dominance of subnational level elections is much of the reason why. This article seeks to explain local electoral outcomes in Japan by focusing on two key features of the Japanese political system: the heavy centralization of governmental finances and an emphasis on clientelistic exchange. Because Japan’s political system focuses so heavily on the clientelist distribution of goods, local politicians and voters casting ballots in local elections have an incentive to align with parties that have access to the state budget. Because Japan’s public funds are primarily controlled by the central government, parties that control the national budget will be the most likely to benefit. In short, Japan’s fiscally centralized and clientelist system helps generate for the LDP a near monopoly on local power across most of Japan.
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