When candidates are more polarised than voters: constitutional revision in Japan

Abstract

The study of mass-elite policy congruence has been limited by the lack of comprehensive data on the preferences and priorities of individual legislators. The University of Tokyo-Asahi Survey fills this lacuna through elite surveys whose response rates exceed ninety per cent. This article applies this data to comparing mass-elite policy preferences on constitutional revision, a core ideological dimension in post-war Japan. It shows that legislators generally follow the party line on policy position but veer closer to swing voters on policy prioritisation. This trend is stronger for electorally insecure legislators, who depend on independent voters to secure victory.