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Paper short abstract

This paper analyzes cooperations on measures against the shortage of candidates in town and village assembly elections and negotiations on sustainable assembly reform through the lenses of center-local relations and democratic qualities.

Paper long abstract

While declining voter turnout in Japan has been extensively studied, the decline in electoral competition has only recently come into focus within the academic literature. In 2023, the share of uncontested elections in town and village assembly elections has grown to an all-time high of 30.3% according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Elections that use single-member districts, where candidates compete for one seat only, have faced this issue for a long time with influential incumbents effectively suppressing competition. The more puzzling is the phenomenon of uncontested elections for multi-member districts as in town and village assembly elections. This trend stems not from the overwhelming presence of the incumbent, but from a shortage of willing candidates and puts Japanese towns and villages at the front of a global development that challenges conventional indicators of democratic qualities.

This paper argues that Japan’s towns and villages provide insight into how subnational institutions can adapt to challenges of mature democracies such as population decline, decreasing electoral competition, and shrinking political participation. It shows the innovative potential of Japan’s town and village assemblies that are often (unjustly) deemed as the weaker part of the subnational two-tier representative system (nigen daihyōsei). By analyzing the horizontal and vertical cooperation networks of local municipalities, it demonstrates how measures against the shortage of candidates and sustainable assembly reform are negotiated within center-local relations. The paper is based on an interview study conducted in 2023 and 2024 with different actors of center-local relations as well as an analysis of various policy papers. Whereas democratic theory often treats uncontested elections as indicators of a democratic crisis, this paper highlights how the study of Japanese town and village assembly reform processes helps contextualize broader debates on transformations of democratic institutions.