View source for Kenseitō

{{More footnotes needed|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox political party
| colorcode        = {{party color|Kenseitō}}
| native_name      = 憲政党
| logo             = 
| leader1_title    = Founder and leader
| leader1_name     = [[Ōkuma Shigenobu]]
| foundation       = {{Start date|1898|06|22}}
| dissolved        = {{End date|1900|09|13}}
| merger           = {{ublist
 | [[Liberal Party (Japan, 1890)|Jiyūtō]]
 | [[Shimpotō]]
}}
| successor        = [[Kensei Hontō]] (Left-wing faction, 1898)<br>[[Seiyūkai]] (Right-wing faction)
| headquarters     = [[Tokyo]]
| ideology         = {{ublist|
 | [[Japanese nationalism]]
 | [[Liberal nationalism]]
 | [[Liberalism]]
 | Anti-[[Meiji oligarchy]]
 | [[Constitutional protection]]
}}
| position         = [[Center-left]] to [[Center-right]] (1898)<br>[[Center-right]] (1898–1900)
| colours          = [[Red]], [[white]]
| country          = Japan
}}

The {{nihongo|'''Kenseitō'''|憲政党||Constitutional Party}} was a [[political party]] in the [[Meiji period]] [[Empire of Japan]].

==History==
The ''Kenseitō'' was founded in June 1898, as a merger of the [[Shimpotō]] headed by [[Ōkuma Shigenobu]] and the [[Liberal Party (Japan, 1890)|Liberal Party]] (Jiyūtō) led by [[Itagaki Taisuke]], with Ōkuma as party president. The merger gave the new party an overwhelming majority in the [[House of Representatives of Japan|Lower House]] of the [[Diet of Japan]]; the two parties had won 208 seats in the [[March 1898 Japanese general election|March 1898 elections]]. After the collapse of the Itō administration, Ōkuma became [[Prime Minister of Japan]], despite concerns by [[Yamagata Aritomo]] and other members of the [[Meiji oligarchy]] and ''[[genrō]]'' that this would result in a dilution of their authority.<ref>Sims. ''Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation''. page 81</ref> One of Ōkuma's first acts as prime minister was to pass much-needed fiscal retrenchment legislation, trimming the number of bureaucrats on the government payroll. However, he was unable to curtail spending for the post-[[First Sino-Japanese War]] military expansion program he inherited from the Itō administration.

During the [[August 1898 Japanese general election|August 1898 general election]], the ''Kenseitō'' won 260 out of 300 seats contested; however, the party soon collapsed. Members of the former ''Jiyūtō'' felt that Ōkuma did not distribute the cabinet seats in fair proportion to their party, and joined with Yamagata Aritomo and other conservative elements in the Diet to criticize [[Minister of Education]] [[Ozaki Yukio]] for a speech which they felt promoted [[republicanism]]. Following Ozaki's resignation, the former ''Jiyūtō'' faction continued to attack the government until Ōkuma's cabinet disintegrated.

The former ''Jiyūtō'' faction reorganized itself into the '''New Kenseitō''' in November 1898 with Itagaki as its president, whilst the former Shimpotō members formed [[Kensei Hontō]]. The reformed party allied itself with the new government led by Yamagata, and pushed for land tax reform and expansion of [[suffrage]]. The New Kenseitō joined Itō Hirobumi's ''[[Rikken Seiyūkai]]'' in 1900.

==Election results==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! Election
! Leader
! Seats
! Status
|-
| [[August 1898 Japanese general election|August 1898]]
| [[Ōkuma Shigenobu]]
| {{Composition bar|244|300|hex={{party color|Kenseitō}}}}
| {{Yes2|Government}}
|}

==References==
*Banno, Junji, ''The Establishment of The Japanese Constitutional System''. Routledge (1995) {{ISBN|0-415-13475-7}} 
*{{cite book | last = Sims | first = Richard | year = 1990 | title = Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868–2000 | publisher = University of California Press | isbn = 0-520-06838-6 }}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

{{Japanese Empire political parties}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Defunct political parties in Japan]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1898]]
[[Category:1898 establishments in Japan]]
[[Category:Political parties in the Empire of Japan]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1900]]
[[Category:1900 disestablishments in Japan]]