The typical image of the Taisho Seihen is the public movement that toppled the 'clique-ruling Cabinet' formed by the Japanese Army and the former Choshu Domain clique, led by Aritomo YAMAGATA and Taro KATSURA respectively, because the public took objection to the Cabinet which, after overthrowing of the second Saionji Cabinet, tried to silence the public voices by fiddling measures such as the party politics and the Imperial Edict Tactics.
大正政変は、山縣有朋・桂率いる陸軍・長州閥が第2次西園寺内閣を倒閣し、これに反対する民衆運動が政党組織や優詔政策といった小手先の政策で交わそうとする「閥族内閣」を打倒したというイメージが強い。