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It's funny. LDP had been the ruling party for more than 50 years. By the standard of the west, Japan's democracy never work at all (Can you imagine the US or the UK being ruled by the same party for 50 years? Would people still call it them democracies?)

But only when LDP is falling and becoming a minority government and so-called alt-right is rising, it's "joining the trend of declining democracy."

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Japan was already classified as "flawed democracy" for that reason and others.

The likely reason for going even lower in that scale is the foundation of new parties that in some case goes as far ad calling for the restoration of the political power of the imperial family.

Not really funny IMHO.

A single ruling party doesn't necessarily make you non-democratic. Bavaria has been run by a single party (the Christian Social Union) almost uninterrupted since 1945 without becoming an autocracy despite the party being rather on the conservative side by European standards (by US standards they're rabid socialists so it depends on your perspective).

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