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who followed him, similarly obtained the support of the Progressive party.

The year 1898 witnessed an attempt, but a short-lived one, to establish a “party cabinet” under Okuma and Itagaki. Next, even the conservative Yamagata followed the plan of an entente cordiale with the predominant party (Liberal) in the Lower House. In 1900–1901, an Ito ministry was another abortive attempt to establish a “party cabinet” under the auspices of Ito’s newly organized party (Seiyukai). Later Saionji and Yamamoto made more serious and more successful attempts to carry on the administration in close connection with the dominant party (Seiyukai) in the Lower House. Finally, on Christmas Day, 1914, Okuma dissolved the House of Representatives and appealed to a general election, by which he obtained a large majority to back up his Ministry, which is at once a personal and a party cabinet. The old-style “transcendental cabinet” is no longer possible; a “party cabinet” is demanded by public opinion and is another of the results of the first quarter century of constitutionalism.