Class-based mass party
Class-based mass party (Japanese: 階級的大衆政党, kaikyūteki taishū seitō) was the self-designation used by the Japan Socialist Party from 1949 to 1986. It was also the line of the left wing of the party, which viewed the middle class as a backward social class and positioned the working class as the primary agent of social transformation. The following article mainly covers the Japanese case.
Overview
[edit]In the 1949 general election held after the corruption scandal of the Ashida Cabinet, the Japan Socialist Party suffered a major loss of seats, prompting a rebuilding of party strength. Junzō Inamura proposed the class party theory while Morito Tatsuo advocated the national party theory. This led to the so-called Morito–Inamura dispute. Due to a large influx of labor activists into the party, the class-based mass party theory — coordinated by Seiichi Katsumata — was adopted.[1][2] Even at the time of the 1955 reunification of the Japan Socialist Party, the concept and term "class-based mass party" were explicitly written into the party platform of the reunified Japan Socialist Party (Chapter 3).[3][4]
Thereafter, amid repeated debates with the Nishio faction and left-right confrontations following the party's long-term decline, fierce disputes continued between the left wing of the party — which insisted on maintaining the class-based mass party character — and the right wing, which called for transforming the party into a national party.[5] With the decline of left-wing influence and the end of cooperation between the Japan Socialist Party and the Japanese Communist Party, right-wing forces gained ground.[6] The New Declaration of the Japan Socialist Party adopted in 1986 redefined the party's character as "the party of the people", effectively abandoning the concept of the class-based mass party.[7]
Class-based mass parties in other countries
[edit]South Korea
[edit]As of the 2020s, South Korea's progressive parties are divided into four main groups: the Democratic Party of Korea, the Justice Party, the Progressive Party and the Labor Party. In response to this fragmentation, lawmaker Dan Byeong-ho has called for organizational unification under the banner of a class-based mass party.[8]
References
[edit]- ↑ "社会党第四回大会運動方針". roudousyaundou.que.jp. Retrieved 2026-08-02.
- ↑ Suzuki, Tetsuzō (April 2003). "戦後社会運動史資料論―鈴木茂三郎（4・完）" [Materials on the History of the Postwar Social Movement: Mosaburō Suzuki (Part 4, Final)] (PDF). 法政大学大原社会問題研究所雑誌 [The Journal of the Ohara Institute for Social Research] (in Japanese) (533). Ohara Institute for Social Research, Hosei University. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ "左社綱領". roudousyaundou.que.jp. Retrieved 2026-08-02.
- ↑ "左社綱領３". roudousyaundou.que.jp. Retrieved 2026-08-02.
- ↑ Inc, Nikkei (2010-11-21). "社会・民社党の創設者 西尾末広(7)副総理に、昭電疑獄で失脚". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-08-02.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ↑ 三訂版,世界大百科事典内言及, デジタル大辞泉,精選版 日本国語大辞典,日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ),改訂新版 世界大百科事典,百科事典マイペディア,ブリタニカ国際大百科事典 小項目事典,山川 日本史小辞典 改訂新版,旺文社日本史事典. "日本社会党(ニッポンシャカイトウ)とは？ 意味や使い方". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-08-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ "日本社会党の新宣言". roudousyaundou.que.jp. Retrieved 2026-08-02.
- ↑ "권영길·단병호 "민주당의 진보정당 배제전략은 더 확고해질 것"". 서울신문 (in Korean). 2020-04-22. Retrieved 2026-08-02.
