Keeping it in the family

[Nagged]

http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20031029p2a00m0fp003000c.html

A staggering 34.2 percent of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) candidates running in the House of Representatives elections are children or grandchildren of former Diet politicians, it has been learned.

The rise of "hereditary" politics is drawing national attention, especially with prominent candidates such as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe being third-generation politicians.

On Tuesday, 1,159 people threw their hats in the ring for the Nov. 9 Lower House election, and 173 of them are children or grandchildren of politicians who belonged to the upper or lower houses.

Of the 173 candidates, 115 are running on the LDP ticket, and 43 are opposition Democratic Party of Japan candidates.

Just before the election campaign began, 18 LDP politicians elected from singl-seat election areas announced their retirement from politics, and nine of their relatives are now running in the same electoral districts as the retired politicians. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Oct. 29, 2003)


Sad state of affairs if you ask me. Mind you, I can think of another country that has a second generation president...

[Nagged]

Oops, wrong forum. Sorry guys.

[Taro Toporific]

Oops, wrong forum. Sorry guys.

Huh? Incest/politics is a perfect topic for the FG.

[Nagged]

Oops, wrong forum. Sorry guys.

Huh? Incest/politics is a perfect topic for the FG.

Good point

[Crispy]

Well, how does that compare to other countries' numbers? I very much doubt that Japan is worse than average in that regard.

[Nagged]

Well, how does that compare to other countries' numbers? I very much doubt that Japan is worse than average in that regard.

To be perfectly honest, I lack sufficient data to make an unbiased evaluation.

However, I cannot recall a single second generation politician in my own country. I have no doubt they exist, yet none seem to become famous enough to be worthy of mention. Then again, perhaps my memory is not the best.

The thing that really bothers me regarding Japanese politics is the fact that this is itself a misnomer. It's just reshuffling of the same old cards, second or third generation politics would probably make changing the status quo all the more difficult.