This research note report the results of an expert survey of party policy positions and the relative importance of different cabinet portfolios in Japan at the time of the 1996 general election. The survey replicates earlier expert surveys conducted in a wide range of democratic systems by Laver and Hunt (1992), but uses a survey form adapted to the specific Japanese context, translated into Japanese, and administered from a Japanese academic institution. The results provide raw data that can be used as input to a range of different models of party competition and government formation.
Castles, Francis and Peter Mair (1984) `Left-right Political Scales: Some Expert Judgements', European Journal of Political Research12: 73-88.
2.
Castles, Francis and Peter Mair (1997) `Revisiting Expert Judgements', European Journal of Political Research31: 150-157.
3.
Huber, John and Ronald Inglehart (1995) `Expert Interpretations of Party Space and Party Locations in 42 Societies', Party Politics1: 73-111.
4.
Kato, Junko and Michael Laver (1998) `Theories of Government Formation and the 1996 General Election in Japan', Leviathan 20 and Party Politics4: 229-252.
5.
Laver, Michael (1994) `Party Policy and Cabinet Portfolios in Ireland 1992: Results From an Expert Survey', Irish Political Studies9: 157-164.
6.
Laver, Michael (1995) `Party Policy and Cabinet Portfolios in the Netherlands, 1994', Acta PoliticaXXX: 3-28.
7.
Laver, Michael and John Garry (1997) `Estimating Policy Positions from Party Manifestos', paper delivered to the symposium on Actors and Institutions in West European Parliamentary Democracies, Umea, 13-15 June 1997.
8.
Laver, Michael and W. Ben Hunt (1992) Policy and Party Competition. New York: Routledge.
9.
Morgan, Michael-John (1976) `The Modeling of Governmental Coalition Formations', unpublished PhD thesis, University of Michigan.
