Partisanship and attribution of responsibility during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

This study examines the attribution of responsibility for government failures during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan—specifically, responsibility for the collapse of the healthcare system. The intent is to reveal which political actors Japanese voters hold accountable and how partisanship is associated with perceptions of responsibility. While there have been previous studies on retrospective voting in Japan, little empirical work has been done to shed light on the attribution of responsibility. Based on the results of an online survey conducted in four prefectures in August 2021, this study yields two main findings. First, Japanese voters tend to blame national politicians rather than local officials or government employees for the failures of the healthcare system, and are particularly likely to attribute responsibility to the prime minister as well as to politicians from the ruling and opposition parties. Second, both positive and negative partisanship are associated with attribution of responsibility, and negative partisanship is more strongly correlated with attribution of responsibility than positive partisanship. Thus, negative partisanship plays an important role in shaping voters’ perceptions of government failures in Japan.