DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST PARTY

Japanese Minshato, formerly (196069) Minshu Shakaito, Japanese political party that was formed in 1960 by moderate socialists who had broken away from the Japan Socialist Party the year before because of its alleged Marxist dogmatism and its definition of itself as a class party. The party traditionally was supported by organized labour. The Democratic Socialist Party participated in a short-lived governing coalition in 1993, and the following year, in opposition to the government, it joined the New Frontier Party (Shinshinto), a newly created coalition of moderate political parties.