Purpose of our research
（１）Primary purpose of our research
Much research on political attitudes has been accumulated in Japan because of its practical relevance in clarifying the function of elections, which are the cornerstone of democracy, and nationwide survey data is one of the few publicly available datasets that can be proud of worldwide. In particular, the results of the national panel survey conducted by the series of JES studies (JESⅡ-JESⅦ), in which the representative and co-researcher of this study participated, have become the basis of voting behavior research in Japan. These results are made accessible for one year following the conclusion of each research period. At no cost, we have provided survey data to seven hundreds domestic and international researchers, including PhD candidates. This research builds upon the series of JES studies by conducting a nationwide panel survey, such as JES VII (Japanese Election Studies VII), releasing the survey data, and integrating political attitudes data with election promises and minutes. This project is to affect a paradigm shift from traditional electoral research to the study of representative democracy.
（２）Significance of this study
The research question "What kind of democracy is desirable?" is an eternal challenge in Political Science. Traditionally, studies have employed two primary metrics to assess the quality of democracy: the voting ratio or seats between the ruling party and the opposition party, which is used to gauge contestation and competition, and the voter turnout or equivalence of votes, which is used to assess inclusiveness and participation. However, these indicators are all external,, and it is challenging to discern whether a higher voting rate or seat share for the ruling party is the consequence of the political process that voters desire or the result of election interference by the government. In other words, external indicators may exclude one-party dictatorship. However, they also exclude one-party-dominated governments that voters support. Furthermore, even if the ratio of ruling and opposition parties in the Diet is identical, the question remains as to whether it is appropriate to view the ratio in the Diet between political parties that reflect the popular will as the same as the ratio in the Diet between political parties that do not reflect the will of the people.
Considering above, we believe that this study is significant in the following respects:
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It focuses on the "function of democracy" rather than conventional external indicators, thereby clarifying the "quality" of democracy in a country where democracy is already well-established.
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The fusion of political attitudes data, election promise data, and parliamentary minutes data in this study, will provide a paradigm shift from traditional electoral research to the study of representative democracy.
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This study inherits the nationwide and time-series survey research on voting behavior in Japan (JES series) and continues to provide internationally acclaimed Japanese political attitudes data to researchers (including graduate students) at no cost within one year after the end of the research period.
This research has the great significance of establishing a new standard for election research in Japan and further increasing the international reputation of Japanese election studies, a reputation that we all share and are proud of and providing a foundation for Japanese political research overseas.