ABSTRACT
The political earthquakes of Italy and Japan in the 1990s provide political scientists with a set of important puzzles: why did large-scale political changes take place almost at the same time in Italy and Japan? Why did some large postwar parties disappear (Democrazia Cristiana: DC; Japan Socialist Party: JSP) while other dominant parties either successfully transformed themselves into new parties (Partito Comunista Italiano/Partito Democratico della Sinistra/Democratici della Sinistra: PCI/PDS/DS) or found a way to survive (Liberal Democratic Party: LDP)?
