About
the Book:
Around the world there was unusual interest in New Zealand's electoral politics during the 1990's, because of the country's adoption of the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system. Since then international interest has lapsed. Yet at the 2011 election and concurrent referendum, New Zealanders voted to retain the MMP system. Among other inquiries, this book asks the question: why?
Looking back to the 2011 election and before, this book lays out the current state of the play in New Zealand electoral politics. Despite its reservations about MMP, the National Party has done very well under that system, particularly since 2005, with a vote share and polling that brought it well within reach of a single party majority in 2014. For these reasons National appears unwilling to change the MMP system in ways recommended by an independent review conducted by the Electoral Commission. This book explores these questions, as well as others, including voter turnout decline, attitudes to welfare reform, women's representation, changes in Māori politics, and the growing importance of immigration on New Zealand politics and society.
ISBN: 9780475124142
Published in May 2014
Paperback: $NZ 39.99
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Voter's Veto: The 2002 Election in New
Zealand and the Consolidation of Minority Government,
edited by Jack Vowles, Peter Aimer, Susan Banducci, Jeffrey Karp, and Raymond
Miller published by Auckland University Press.
You can view the
preface here.
Please contact the publisher for further information about ordering: aup@auckland.ac.nz
|
About
the Book:
The title of this book sums up one of the main features of the 2002
Election in New Zealand. Before Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark called the election, opinion polls had
foreshadowed a possible outright win for her party. Presented with the prospect of a
majority government, a significant number of voters decided to withdraw their
support from Labour, and therefore vetoed that option, robbing Labour of the
chance to practise 'unbridled power', but making it possible for Labour to form
another minority government.
A Scandinavian-style party system appeared to have emerged, with Labour
in a strategically dominant position, at least for the time being, its
electoral support exceeding that of the next largest party, National, by more
than 20 per cent. Yet despite significant changes in the fortunes of the parties,
the turnout of voters on the day declined to a New Zealand low.
All this makes the 2002 election both a landmark and a puzzle. The 2002
election campaign appeared even more volatile than 1996, the first
New Zealand election under proportional representation. What led to this volatility, and to these
outcomes? What are the consequences of the election for the political
process and for New Zealanders' trust and confidence in it? Is minority
government within a moderately fragmented party system the most likely pattern for
the immediate future of New Zealand politics? Will voters continue to veto the prospect of one party claiming power for itself
alone? This book seeks to answer these and many other questions.
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Proportional
Representation on Trial: The 1999 New Zealand General Election and the
Fate of MMP
Jack Vowles, Peter Aimer, Jeffrey Karp,
Susan Banducci, Raymond Miller, and Ann
Sullivan
Published by Auckland
University Press (2002)
ISBN 1 86940 265 0
235 x 145mm, paperback, 264p approx, figures & tables
Proportional
Representation on Trial
will be available in
February, 2002 for a cost of $NZ 39.95 or $US 16.87. Please contact the
publisher for further information about ordering: aup@auckland.ac.nz.
|
Abstract:
The 1999 general election was a memorable one. The last electoral contest of the 20th century, it brought down the political curtain on a dramatic decade, which ended as it began with a complete change of government. At the beginning of the decade, the Fourth Labour government had been swept away by National in a classic landslide election. In 1999, Labour returned to power as the main party in a coalition minority government. Proportional representation in the form of MMP made the difference. In 1993, the deeply disillusioned electorate had voted for a new electoral system. The transition to proportional representation added to the political turmoil of the decade. MMP ushered in a larger parliament, a new balance of parties, and ended the era of one-party majority governments. After the first MMP election in 1996, the unexpected formation of the National-New Zealand First coalition bewildered and outraged many people. Within National, Jenny Shipley toppled Jim Bolger from leadership to become the country's first woman Prime Minister. New Zealand First splintered, and the coalition collapsed. In the eyes of most electors by 1999, proportional representation was on trial, along with the political parties.
Proportional Representation on Trial is the fourth in a
series of election studies funded by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, that documents the
electoral politics of a remarkable decade. Based on the most extensive surveys of public opinion undertaken in New Zealand, it delves into the dynamics of an
election campaign dominated by two closely-matched women leaders; the return of Maori voters to their historic Labour preference; the emergence of the Greens; and the developing foundations of the Labour-Alliance coalition. It traces the evolution of public attitudes to MMP, presents a comprehensive assessment of the
effects of proportional representation, and discusses the experiment of the two
citizens initiated referendums.
What people are saying about Proportional Representation on Trial
Winner
of the Electoral Commission's
2002 Wallace Award for best academic paper, monograph or bookon
electoral matters published in 2001-02.
…
fourth
in a series…arguably the best book so far
. -Alan
McRobie, NZ Books
This
book is a psephologist’s delight
. -David
Verran, Sunday Star-Times.
About the
Authors:
Jack Vowles is Professor and Head of Department of Political Studies at the University of Auckland.
Peter Aimer is Honorary Research Fellow at the Department of Political Studies at the University of Auckland.
Jeffrey Karp is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science at Texas
Tech University.
Susan Banducci is Director of Research of the Earl Survey Research Laboratory and
Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science at Texas
Tech University.
Raymond Miller is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Studies at the University of Auckland
Ann Sullivan
is Associate Professor at the Department of Maori Studies at University of Auckland.
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Voters' Victory? New
Zealand's First Election Under Proportional Representation
Edited by Jack Vowles, Peter Aimer, Susan
Banducci, and Jeffrey Karp
Published by Auckland
University Press (1998)
ISBN: 1 86940 180 8
Voters'
Victory? is available now for a cost of $NZ
39.95 or $US 23.50 and can be ordered directly from the publisher at: aup@auckland.ac.nz. The following
shipping prices apply to those overseas:
$NZ 22 Airmail (6-12 days) or Economy $NZ 15 (25-45 days) to
Europe
$NZ 19 Airmail (4-10 days) or Economy $NZ 12.50 (18-25 days) to the
United States
You can
also purchase the book from Amazon.com |
Abstract:
What happens when a country moves away from British-style, two-party politics and towards multiparty politics, adopting a European system of Mixed-Member proportional representation (MMP)? Voters' Victory? explores this question comprehensively and in depth. New Zealand's historic first MMP election was held on 12 October 1996 . This book examines what New Zealanders could expect from MMP on the basis of international
experience and theory, then focuses on the distinctive features of the election and its outcome: the party changes; the patterns of voting; how people used their votes; shifts in support for parties and leaders in the campaign; the composition of the new Parliament; the capture of the Maori seats by
New Zealand First; and the fateful National-New Zealand First Coalition outcome.
New Zealand's switch to proportional representation, like its economic reforms of the last decade, has attracted international interest. Scholars from Australia , the United States and Canada, as well as New Zealand, are among the contributing authors to this first authoritative analysis of a landmark election.
Voters' Victory? is the third major study of voters and electoral choice in New Zealand since 1990, based on the nationwide, post-election surveys of electors and candidates, conducted
by the New Zealand Election Study programme and funded by the Foundation for Research, Science, and Technology (FRST).
View
Preface and Chapter 1 (23 pp., 84k).
What people
are saying
about Voters' Victory ?:
Winner of the Electoral Commission's 1998
Wallace
Award for best academic paper, monograph or bookon
electoral matters published in 1997-98.
Chris
Rudd,
University
of
Otago
.
"...a
very scholarly work. Voters' Victory?
is the third major study of voters and electoral choice conducted by the New Zealand Election Study. The previous studies
examined the 1990 and 1993 elections and anyone seriously interested in
New Zealand political behaviour should have all three volumes on their bookshelves." Political
Science
-January 1999 (287-288).
The
Waikato
Times calls Voters' Victory? " almost
impenetrably academic in style." -June
6, 1998
Geoffrey Thompson, President of the New Zealand National Party reviewed Voters' Victory?
along with two other books on MMP for
New Zealand
Books.
Thompson writes "Voters'
Victory? contain[s] a wealth of
material and pointers to the future, especially in respect of split voting and the
Maori vote." "If I had to make a choice to buy one of
the books, Voters' Victory? would
be on my shelves, as a political resource, but not as a relaxed read." -
New Zealand Books, Volume 34, No. 3. August 1998.
Errata and corrections:
The following corrections were not able to be made prior to publication:
-
Table 4.4 (p.56)
The headers for 1993 vote and 1996 vote should be
reversed. Click here
for the correct table.
-
Data in Figure 9.1 (p.139) are the proportion of women and Maori in parliament (1853-1996)
not the number in parliament.
-
The last paragraph on p.150 prior to the conclusion should be replaced with the following paragraph.
-
Under ethnicity in Table 10.2 (p.160-161), New Zealand
European and Pacific Islander should be collapsed into Non-Maori. As
they appear in the book, the differences between Pacific Islander are
not signficant at p<.05. Also the
notation at the bottom of the table should read: Scales were constructed so that positive
values indicate cynicism and negative values indicate contentment.
Click here for the
correct table.
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Towards Consensus? The
1993 Election in New Zealand and the Transition to Proportional
Representation
Jack Vowles, Peter Aimer, Helena
Catt, Jim Lamare,
and Raymond Miller
Published by Auckland
University Press (1995)
ISBN: 1 86940 123 9
$39.95 plus shipping
$22 Airmail (6-12 days) or Economy $15 (25-45 days) to Europe
$19 Airmail (4-10 days) or Economy $12.50 (18-25 days) to the United
States
To order the book, contact: aup@auckland.ac.nz
or Amazon.com |
Abstract:
The
election of
6 November 1993
was one of the most tense and significant in New Zealandís
history. When the votes were counted Nationalís
large
majority had vanished and Labour had
almost as many
seats in the House. The date was also a political and constitutional
turning
point; for at the same time voters had rejected the first-past-the-post
electoral system in favour of MMP, a form
of
proportional representation that would re-shape the structure of future
party
competition.
Towards
Consensus?
Seeks to explain the results of the election and referendum and
examines their implications for the future of
New Zealand
politics under the new
electoral system. The authors build their analysis on the rich data provided by
replies of over 2000 voters and more than 1000 political party activists and
parliamentary candidates surveyed immediately after the election.
Using this information they are able to follow the changes to peopleís
party choices from 1990 to 1993. They trace the sources of support for the
new multi-party
Alliance
and New Zealand First, and shed light on Nationalís spectacular
electoral losses and Labourís
disappointments in 1993. The analysis takes
account of the wide range of values, personal attitudes, and
judgements of policies and politicians that
people bring to the ballot box. It explores the similarities and differences in outlook
among voters and those who seek to represent them. It also discusses the
electoral background to MMP and looks ahead to the emergence of multi-party
politics under the new system.
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Voters' Vengeance: The
1990 Election in New Zealand and the Fate of the Fourth
Labour Government
Jack Vowles and Peter Aimer
Published by Auckland
University Press (1993)
ISBN: 1 86940 078 X
$39.95 plus shipping
$22 Airmail (6-12 days) or Economy $15 (25-45 days) to Europe
$19 Airmail (4-10 days) or Economy $12.50 (18-25 days) to the United
States
To order the book, contact: aup@auckland.ac.nz
or Amazon.com |
Abstract:
The
1990 election
produced
New Zealand
's most dramatic
parliamentary
transformation in over fifty years. Labour
plunged
from 56 seats to 29, while National rose from 41 to 67. Rubbing salt
into Labour's deep electoral wounds, Jim
Anderton,
who had left Labour to establish and lead
the NewLabour Party, retained the
ninety-seventh seat. It was Labour's worst
result by far since 1931. Meanwhile a new
party, the Greens, emerged as
New Zealand
's largest and most
popular
'third' party.
Many
people,
disappointed and disillusioned with the Labour
Government, justified their participation in its defeat as an act of
revenge.
Yet if Labour lost because voters
abandoned it in
large numbers, National did not win because it received massive support
and its
huge parliamentary majority was partly a quirk of New
Zealandís
first-past-the-post electoral system.
This book
documents the
election in a way that has never been done before in
New Zealand
. It recalls the major landmarks of the Fourth Labour Governmentís
eventful term, but does so largely from the perspective of the voters
themselves. It draws on information contained in over 2000 replies to a
national random survey of New Zealanders just after the election. It
maps the movement of voters since 1984 and it shows how different groups of
people responded to the wide range of economic, social, environmental and
gender issues that emerged during the often stormy years of the
Lange-Palmer-Moore period. Many of the changes of this time were not unique, however, but
were part of an international process: the authors have also linked the
political responses of New Zealanders to international patterns and trends in
voting behaviour. An important and illuminating study.
Other Books
Vowles
, J., and Aimer, E.P.,
ed., (1994)
Double Decision: the 1993 Election and Referendum in
New Zealand
.
Wellington
,
Victoria
University
Department of Politics.
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