Social Science Japan Journal Advance Access published online on March 18, 2008
Social Science Japan Journal, doi:10.1093/ssjj/jyn010
Fairness versus Freedom: Constitutional Implications of Internet Electioneering for Japan
OHTA Takaaki is a doctoral candidate specializing in political and constitutional theory at the Graduate School of Political Science, Waseda University. His research focuses on the constitutional theory of digital democracy. He has published ‘Internet Constitution wa Hitsuy
-ka’ (Do We Need an Internet Constitution?) in Jh Shakai Gakkaishi (The Journal of the Infosocionomics Society) 2(2) (2007); and ‘Constitutionalism, Cyberspace and Exits,’ in the Journal of Political Science and Sociology 9 (2008). He can be reached by e-mail at ohta{at}toki.waseda.jp
In recent years, there has been an increasing trend for legal scholars in Japan to question and reconsider the extreme strictness of electioneering regulations, which has been maintained since the prewar period. Under these circumstances, what is termed Internet electioneering started to garner attention because of its possibility of realizing the two conflicting ideas of the freedom and fairness of elections. On the other hand, Internet electioneering does not necessarily receive an unqualified endorsement from constitutional scholars. In particular, some republican standpoints have inquired whether the Internet diminishes the constitutional guarantees of the democratic process. With regard to such concerns, this article examines the constitutional validity of the development of Internet electioneering in Japanese politics.
* The author thanks in particular the three anonymous referees of this journal for their highly beneficial comments and suggestions. This article is based on Ohta (2007). All quotations from Japanese-language references have been translated by the author.