Socialist Party (Akashi)

Socialist Party 社会党 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐍃ᚴ𐌰𐍆𐍄𐍃𐌹𐌸𐌰 𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻ᚴ𐌾𐍉
Abbreviation	SP
Founded	1918
Ideology	Democratic socialism Syndicalism
Political position	Left-wing to Centre-left
National affiliation	Pale crimson bloc
Colours	Red
MNAs	75 / 400
Politics of Akashi Political parties

The Socialist Party (Miranian: 社会党 Shakaitō; Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌻𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌾𐌰 𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻ᚴ𐌾𐍉 Gamainallaiseinja Dailkjō) is a democratic socialist political party in Akashi.

Established in 1918, it is the second oldest Akashian parties still in existence, and one of two whose existence predates the Akashian Civil War. It has long had a leading role on the Akashian left, for which it has rivaled the Communist Party. It is one of Akashi's most influential major parties.

History

Early years

The party was founded in 1918, through the consolidation of various existing labour, socialist, and social democratic parties.

It aligned itself with the rising labour militancy and revolt against capitalist inequality during the following decades, and by the 1930s it was one of Akashi's largest parties. It was a bitter enemy of the Futurist Political Party, the leading party of the far-right.

Civil war

During the Akashian Civil War, it joined the United Red Army, which united the left-wing parties against the threat of Political Futurist dictatorship.

The URA largely shouldered the bulk of the battles against the Great Akashi Army, and formed an alliance with the National Renewal Movement. When the GAA had been defeated, the URA was left exhausted by the war, and NRM leader Yurika Ehara seized the advantage. A combination of offensives and generous concessions enabled a peace deal with the URA, leaving her the victor of the civil war.

Wilderness period

The failure to win the civil war was a traumatic event for the SP that shaped its post-war development. In the Constituent Assembly election of 1940, it won only 21,7% of the vote and 27 party seats, coming second behind the National Union.

During the 1940s and 1950s, the party languished around 10% of the vote in general elections, and closely competed with the Communist Party in provincial and prefectural elections. It was a pioneer in creating the koenkai system, which subsequently spread among opposition parties struggling to make headway against the NU's dominance, and the NU itself.

The acrimonious conflict between the SP and CP, which had fallen out after the civil war, contributed to the left's woes. The SP was particularly frustrated with the CP's dithering on the question of peaceful or violent revolution. In the 1960 presidential election, the CP, WP, and SP jointly endorsed a United Left candidate, who finished second with what was then the best opposition performance against Yurikara.

The SP took part in the United Opposition electoral alliance of 1962, which ended in animosity and gained the party 11 seats, far below its customary performance. The mid-to-late 1960s saw a growing reconciliation between the SP and the now-reunited CP. The internal debate about whether to focus on opposing the Yurika Ehara government or strategically cooperate with it in light of its dominant position grew more heated.

The Summer of Freedom proved a turning point for the SP. The brewing conflict between its "revolutionary" and "reformist" factions came to a head at its 1968 convention, where the "revolutionary" faction triumphed under Tarō Yukimura's leadership. The party supported the protests and later condemned the "Lunatic Faction". It joined Yurikara's national unity government during the crisis, its first participation in a national government.

Government and opposition

The fall of the National Union as a major party in 1972 enabled other parties to surge. The SP won a plurality in the National Assembly, which it maintained throughout the decade.

The SP led a series of leftist coalitions during the 1970s, which took advantage of the "siege economy" to push through radical leftist policies. Notable achievements included strengthening the cooperative sector and power of trade unions, increasing the role of economic planning, and drastically reducing inequality and poverty. Notable challenges included sustained labour militancy, despite the party's ostensibly good relations with the Sōhyō, and problems with inflation and balance of payments.

The "black budget" of 1977 unleashed further turmoil in the party. One faction that opposed the budget split off to form the Justice Party, while the new leader Yumiko Nagatsuki attempted to back off from the radical measures of her predecessor Kasumi Kuroki, but was constrained by a loss of majority in 1978, forcing her to rely on either CP or independent support.

The SP lost power in 1980, and was relegated to opposition against the Ran Tsukuda government during the 1980s. Its then-leader Kagehisa Ueki believed that the party had to moderate its image to regain support, and sought to move it towards the centre. However, this strategy failed: the SP was devastated by the "blue wave" of 1986, and many disillusioned supporters began to switch to the CP instead.

Eclipse period

The SP's setbacks and missteps during the 1980s left it ill-prepared to confront the neoliberal conspiracy, and instead the CP seized the mantle of leftist leadership. It fell to third place in the "red wave" of 1990, and joined the CP-led coalition of Shinobu Furukawa as a junior partner.

Membership of Shinobu's coalition put an end to the party's moderation attempts, and throughout the 1990s it placed itself firmly on the left and gave greater attention to the syndicalist elements of its platform. However, there was still a perception, and fear, that the SP was now becoming eclipsed by the CP as the undisputed leader of the Akashian left. This fear took its toll on Shinobu's last term, as the SP surpassed the CP in 1998 but remained a junior coalition partner. The JP voting to reunite with the SP further boosted the party's prospects.

The SP became the largest opposition once again from 1999 as the CP returned to its traditional status as the third-largest party in the National Assembly. However, the party's leadership proved no match for the centre-right governments led by a returning Ran Tsukuda and Anna Carbone. Another ill-fated moderation attempt allowed Liana Ferrari's United Reform Party to challenge the party with a strong right-wing socialist campaign, causing the disaster of 2006, where the party fell to fourth place against another "blue wave".

Resurgence

With poor prospects and an upcoming general election, the party elected Kōko Kaga as its leader. This proved to be a masterstroke: Kōko caused a surge in the party's popularity, an effect nicknamed "Kōkomania". She turned the 2010 general election into a "red wave", with the party winning 210 seats out of 400 — its highest ever tally, and the first single-party majority since 1970.

In office, Kōko pursued a program of "21st century socialism", with flagship policies including the conversion of the welfare system to a basic income–negative income tax model, growing the cooperative sector, increased decentralised planning, and increasing the public's role in self-governance and economic planning. Several of these were enshrined in the constitution after a successful 2011 referendum.

The SP lost its majority in 2014, but remained the largest party in the National Assembly, and continued in office in coalition with the Green Party, National Cooperative Party, and National Union.

Platform

The SP is a democratic socialist and syndicalist party. It supports the socialisation of the economy, workers' self-management, and a robust social safety net. Its ultimate goal is to overcome capitalism and create an egalitarian society.

Historically, the SP favoured strong economic interventionism and redistribution of income and wealth policies, which earned it criticism from the left as "state socialist" and neglecting opportunities to transform the economy. In response to these criticisms, it has increasingly shifted towards a greater emphasis on cooperativisation and decentralised planning since the 1990s.

Over the years, the party's platform has changed to adapt to the emergence of new issues and leftist formations: the New Left in the 1960s, environmentalism in the 1970s, e-democracy in the 1990s, and the just transition in the 2010s.

The party maintains a close relationship with the Sōhyō, although its traditional role as the political arm of the labour movement has been challenged by the Communist Party and Green Party.

Election results

National Assembly

Election	Party list		Constituency		Seats	+/–	Status
	PR votes	%	STV votes	%
1940	356.131	21,7%			27 / 245	27	Opposition
1942	176.112	10,0%			21 / 200	6	Opposition
1946	213.833	10,2%			21 / 200		Opposition
1950	248.318	10,4%			22 / 200	1	Opposition
1954	295.483	10,2%			21 / 200	1	Opposition
1958	344.955	10,5%			22 / 200	1	Opposition
19621	1.227.100	32,5%			11 / 200	11	Opposition
1966	409.873	10,0%			22 / 200	11	Opposition (1966–1968)
							Coalition (1968–1970)
1970	574.612	12,0%	551.290	11,5%	22 / 200		Coalition
1972	1.126.301	22,5%	1.383.493	27,7%	40 / 200	18	Coalition
1974	1.053.552	20,4%	1.492.626	29,0%	45 / 200	5	Coalition
1978	1.107.620	20,0%	1.401.838	25,2%	35 / 200	10	Coalition
1980	592.372	10,5%	675.499	12,0%	21 / 200	14	Interim
1982	669.088	11,6%	690.655	12,0%	71 / 400	50	Opposition
1986	624.735	10,5%	595.643	10,0%	41 / 400	30	Opposition
1990	598.658	9,5%	711.305	11,3%	40 / 400	1	Coalition
1994	653.521	10,2%	733.509	11,5%	44 / 400	4	Coalition
1998	1.100.748	16,7%	949.254	14,4%	72 / 400	28	Coalition
1999	999.573	15,8%	839.414	13,3%	77 / 400	5	Opposition
2002	1.082.476	16,2%	902.380	13,5%	74 / 400	3	Opposition
2006	518.071	7,7%	557.773	8,3%	32 / 400	44	Opposition
2010	2.953.606	39,0%	3.233.400	42,6%	210 / 400	178	Government
2014	1.610.851	20,5%	1.612.429	20,5%	100 / 400	110	Coalition
2018	1.301.030	16,4%	1.268.415	16,0%	75 / 400	25	Coalition

¹ Result for the whole United Opposition, consisting of the SP, Liberal Party, National Democratic Party, Communist Party, Workers' Party, and Social Credit Party.

Presidency

Election	Candidate	First round		Second round		Result
		Votes	%	Votes	%
1940	Kozue Yajima	330.706	20,2%			Lost
1945	Kozue Yajima	287.347	15,3%			Lost
1950	Nobuhisa Miyata	305.262	12,8%			Lost
1955	Toshinobu Kuno	334.512	11,5%			Lost
19601	Yoshinaka Hashi	722.838	20,4%			Lost
1965	Saba	539.825	13,6%			Lost
1970	No candidate
1975	No candidate
1980	Shimei Yukimori	1.118.281	19,8%			Lost
1985	Masashi Yukimura	1.424.890	24,5%	2.108.904	38,0%	Lost
1990	Kazuki Ōshiro	522.692	8,5%			Lost
1995	Shintarō Araki	767.439	12,1%			Lost
2000	Kōsaku Ayuzawa	2.818.912	45,5%	3.834.846	61,0%	Won
2005	Kōsaku Ayuzawa	3.054.966	47,3%	3.880.233	60,6%	Won
2010	Kyōichi Hirayama	2.168.731	28,7%	3.675.317	50,0%	Lost
2015	Kyōichi Hirayama	1.737.855	22,5%	2.778.514	37,0%	Lost
2020	Satoru Katayama	2.000.244	24,3%	3.043.810	36,4%	Lost

¹ United Left candidate, jointly endorsed with Workers' Party and Communist Party.

Provincial assemblies

Main article: List of Akashian provincial elections

Prefectural assemblies

Main article: List of Akashian prefectural elections