Decades in the Making: Japan's 2015 Security Revisions

Abstract

For decades, strong political opposition, organized around Japan’s peace constitution prevented major security legislation or revisions, yet in 2015, neither the constitution nor political sentiment proved effective obstacles to the legislation’s passage. Japan’s 2015 security legislation (JLPS) codified Japan’s right to exercise collective self-defense, allowing it to defend close allies like America. It captured global headlines, sparked mass public demonstrations inside Japan, and precipitated a considerable drop in Prime Minister Abe’s approval ratings. Why was this legislation possible? Moreover, how was it possible for Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to pass this legislation in 2015? This piece posits a two-part explanation, one of both substance and process. Regarding the former, an analysis of de jure and de facto policies since 1991 reveals a slow, continuous accumulation of substantive precedent on which the 2015 JLPS stands. As for the process, examination of the “bait-and-switch” electoral successes of the LDP coupled with the simultaneous perception of an inept Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) alternative, help explain why the LDP obtained the necessary majorities to force the JLPS through the Diet and, in spite of old institutional restraints, take another step in expanding Japan’s security operational capabilities.