ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the debate on the presidentialization of politics by Poguntke and Webb and reviews previous research on presidentialization in Japan. In advanced industrialized democracies, the phenomenon of presidentialization can be seen in three aspects: the executive, political parties, and elections. These three aspects influence each other. It is thus insufficient to focus on only one aspect in the discussion of presidentialization. Factors involved in presidentialization include structural and contingent factors based on the political situation and the personality of the leader. By comprehensively evaluating these factors, we can consider the question of whether presidentialization has occurred.
