Japan lost the dubious distinction of being the world's most predictable democracy in late 2009 when the pro-business Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Jiminto, lost a lower-house election, after an almost uninterrupted 50 years in power, to the mildly left-wing Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto). It is no surprise after such an upset that the Minshuto has attempted some housecleaning. Despite already going through a change of prime ministers and suffering a painful defeat in the upper house of parliament in July 2010, the new ruling party has tried to orchestrate a mass transfer of decision-making power from central government bureaucrats, who made most key decisions under the LDP, to its own MPs.
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