PROVIDING CLEAR CUES - VOTER RESPONSE TO THE REFORM ISSUE IN THE 1993JAPANESE GENERAL-ELECTION

The 1993 election brought to an end the 39-year rule of Japan's Libera l Democratic Party (LDP). The major issue in that election campaign wa s the 'political reform' that the government had twice promised and tw ice failed to deliver. Using data aggregated at the candidate level, t he paper examines the question of whether the electorate were attracte d to those candidates who participated in the reform movement. Candida tes running for political parties standing for reform and leaders of r eform groups were handsomely rewarded. LDP candidates who voted for or abstained from voting against the no-confidence motion that forced th e election also gained votes. Candidates tainted with scandal and LDP incumbents lost votes. Yet the rank and file of the reform movement we re treated no differently than other candidates. Though Japanese voter s could not make fine distinctions among candidates, they proved perfe ctly capable of rewarding those clearly identified with reform.