8
the United States, it is commonly assumed that candidate characteristics can shape the
ability of politicians to attract and spend money and consequently, their ability to gather
votes. “Good candidates attract money, and the promise of money attracts good
candidates” (Jacobson 1993:115). Thus, there should be positive correlation between
candidate characteristics, expenditures and vote shares.
Scholars have advanced theoretical constructs to measure the strength of
candidate characteristics. These models have proven extremely useful in research on
members of the U.S. Congress. Jacobson (1990) posits the main indicator of candidate
strength is whether the candidate has previously held elective office. In Japan, incumbent
status as well as the number of previous terms a politician has won re-election in Japan
should be positively related to their expenditures and vote shares. However, there are
likely to be interparty differences in the context of Japanese politics, which are shaped by
the long tenure of the LDP.
The advantages that incumbents possess may be different depending on whether
the politicians are from the ruling or opposition parties. In particular, there may be LDP-
specific incumbency advantages because of their ability to access state resources as part
of the ruling government. For the LDP, “…its long tenure as a dominant ruling party
facilitates access to state resources and encourages routinized ties between legislator and
constituents to exploit this access” (Calder 1988:66). Therefore, the LDP as a whole may
be more successful than newer parties not only in spending money, but also in winning
votes.
One measure of the powerful organizational legacy of the LDP in this regard is
the number of support groups maintained or newly established by politicians. Candidates
Convention