The result of the Sept. 11 general election was a runaway victory for the Liberal Democratic Party, and political chaos. But from the fog of uncertainty that is enveloping Japan there may emerge a new political structure that could some day be called the "2005 order."
This order offers two scenarios. One is the establishment of a bipolar political system under which right-wingers and middle-of-the-road left-wingers vie for power in the context of a confrontation between a new liberalism and a moderate welfare state advocacy. The other sees the LDP and the Democratic Party of Japan competing to make bold or radical statements on the back of diplomatic subservience to the United States on the international front and a new liberalism at home.
In Europe, labor unions have far greater political influence than those in Japan and always support political parties on the left. In the U.S., the Republican Party weaves together such extremists as neoconservatives and religious fundamentalists within its ranks while there have always been liberal forces exercising their influence in the Democratic Party. Therefore, it is almost inconceivable that there could exist two-party systems devoid of ideological differences in Europe and the U.S.