Approval ratings in public opinion polls are the most important power resource for prime ministers in contemporary Japanese politics. However, this is a relatively new political phenomenon. In this lecture, I provide a brief overview of the changes in the role of prime ministers and the power of public opinion over the past fifty years. I also show how changes in methodology and more frequent polls further accelerated prime ministers’ dependence on their approval ratings. Finally, using available survey data, I demonstrate how much the impact of prime ministerial approval on individual voting behavior has increased over time.

Professor Maeda earned his PhD in political science from the University of Michigan in 2001. His research interests include (1) public opinion, (2) methodologies in survey research, and (3) data sharing in the social sciences. He has worked for the Japanese committees for many international surveys, including the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems, and World Value Survey.

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