Gerald L. Curtis, the Burgess Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Columbia University, has published a June 26, 2016 op-ed titled “Japan’s Election Offers Little Choice” in The Wall Street Journal.
As Japan’s July 10 Upper House election approaches, Professor Curtis, a leading expert on Japanese politics, argues that voters, while having lost faith in Abenomics, will hesitate to replace Prime Minister Shinzo Abe because doing so could further impact the economy. “Voting behavior in Japan’s Upper House elections often resembles American voting in midterm Congressional elections,” Professor Curtis writes. “It is an opportunity for the voters to send a message to the party in power that they aren’t satisfied with its performance without actually driving it out of office.”
Read the full article here.
