In 2018 Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party announced four new proposals to amend the seven-decades-old and thus-far unamended constitution of Japan. These include adding a third paragraph to Article 9, as well as state-of-emergency provisions, support for students in need, and changes to the electoral system. By analyzing each proposal’s place in the debate on amendments dating back to the 1950s, I show that these very different proposals share one important feature that sets them apart from recent drafts aiming for wholesale reform of the constitution: they are relatively minimalist in nature. This new modesty is due to the necessity to win over other parties and voters, but it is also an attempt to cement rather than to change the LDP-made status quo.

中文翻译：

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自民党2018年修宪提案的历史分析

2018 年，日本自民党宣布了四项新提案，以修改已有 7 年历史且至今未修改的日本宪法。其中包括在第 9 条中增加第三款，以及紧急状态条款、对有需要的学生的支持以及选举制度的变化。通过分析每个提案在可追溯到 1950 年代的修正案辩论中的地位，我表明这些截然不同的提案具有一个重要特征，使它们与最近旨在全面改革宪法的草案不同：它们在本质上是相对极简主义的。这种新的谦虚是出于赢得其他政党和选民的必要性，但它也是一种试图巩固而不是改变自民党制造的现状。