目前,對自由民主黨(簡稱自民黨)派閥政治的研究,普遍認為「派閥政治」曾被視為是自民黨政治的代名詞,並且自民黨是派閥的聯合體。不僅位居政治最高領導者的首相是派閥合縱連橫的決定,而且派閥也扮演關鍵的角色,主導內閣的組成,因此首相的領導權相對地受到了制約。但是,日本政府於1994年通過政治改革法案後,權力集中到以首相為核心的黨中央,派閥的影響力則出現式微的現象。但是,第二次安倍政權期間,不論是總裁(首相)人選的決定,或是內閣的組成,以往派閥的影響力有復甦的現象。本文藉由與小泉政權的比較,來探討第二次安倍政權的派閥影響力的樣貌,對於上述的一般看法,提出不同的觀點。為何選擇小泉政權作為比較的題材?因為小泉首相是將政治改革的成果充分利用的代表者,在政權運作時,小泉排除派閥的影響力,建構出「首相主導」的權力結構。
In terms of the recent study of the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) politics, it is generally believed that "Faction politics" was once regarded as synonymous with the LDP's politics, and that the LDP was a coalition of factions. Not only the prime minister, the highest political leader, was decided in accordance with the effect of the competition and cooperation among factions, but faction politics also played a crucial role in the cabinet composition. Thus, the powers of the prime minister were restricted relatively. However, after the Japanese government passed the political reform bill in 1994, the power was concentrated in the hands of the leadership core of the political party, and the influence of the faction decreases. Nevertheless, during the second Abe regime, the factions again influence on both the decision of the Prime Minister and the composition of the cabinet. This article intends to discuss the effect of the faction politics on the second Abe regime by comparing with Koizumi regime. The study will propose different views to challenge the general belief and analyze the effect of faction politics on the second Abe regime. Why was Koizumi regime compared with the second Abe regime? It is because Prime Minister Koizumi was the representative of the political reform, who successfully took advantage of the reform results. In his regime, he excluded the influence of the factions and developed the power structure of the "prime ministerial-led politics."