LONDON -- Parliamentary institutions in Britain and Japan currently have one thing in common -- they lack an effective and credible opposition. The absence of opposition can allow governments with large majorities to ignore public opinion, at least in the short term, and behave in an autocratic way, knowing that the only curb on their activities is the need to win the next general election. Under these circumstances, parliamentary democracy is liable to become an elected dictatorship in which the only threat to the government comes from within the ruling party or coalition.

In Britain, the Conservative (or Tory) Party, since the defeat of the last Conservative government led by John Major, has failed to produce a leader capable of not only uniting the party but also appealing to the electorate as a whole. They first tried William Hague, who was good at scoring points in Parliament but not much else. They then selected Iain Duncan Smith (known as IDS). One critic has described him as someone who would make quite a good chairman of a golf club.

Lacking charisma and punch, IDS tries to be the quiet man of politics who will bypass the divisive problem of the party's attitude to Europe by ignoring it, concentrating instead on issues of greater immediate interest to the electorate -- in particular, the improvement of public services. This is not a bad idea, but unfortunately the Conservatives are a quarrelsome lot who, though lacking power, indulge in petty jealousies. IDS has seemed ham-fisted and devious in dealing with such infighting.