“Kempō yori meshi da”—”food before a constitution”—read a typical Communist banner during the popular upheavals of May. Given that hunger and runaway inflation threatened to squeeze the life out of ordinary people, this emphasis may have been understandable. It did not, however, reflect an impressive commitment to institutionalizing political democracy. Consistent with its prewar position, the party tended to focus more on the elimination of “feudal vestiges” or the “reactionary government” than on the creation and extension of rights and protections. Internally as well as publicly, it was
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