The Political Impact of Electoral System Change in Japan and New Zealand, 1996

1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Gallagher
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
System Change ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Impact

scholarly journals The New Game with the Old Rules: Boundary Determination Under MMP

2003 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 135
Author(s):  
Graham Beever
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
Royal Commission ◽  
The Political ◽  
Tolerance Level ◽  
Boundary Determination ◽  
New System

In 1996, New Zealand experienced its first election under MMP, a system of proportional representation. MMP had been recommended ten years earlier by the Royal Commission on the Electoral System. However, some of the details surrounding the operation of the new system differ significantly from the original recommendations of the Royal Commission.In relation to the determination of electoral boundaries, an issue of considerable importance under the previous First Past the Post system but of diminished significance under MMP, there are two particularly important differences. One of these is the retention of two political representatives on the Representation Commission, the body responsible for determining electoral boundaries. The other is the retention of the electoral tolerance at the relatively low level of five percent. The electoral tolerance is the quantity that determines the acceptable variation in population between electorates.The paper concludes that the political representatives should be removed from the Representation Commission, and that the tolerance should be raised to ten percent, as originally envisaged by the Royal Commission. The entrenched status of these provisions makes reform especially challenging. However, there is evidence to suggest, at least in relation to the tolerance level, that cross-party consensus may be able to be achieved.

scholarly journals Electoral System Change, Generations, Competitiveness and Turnout in New Zealand, 1963–2005

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 875-895 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Vowles
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Generational Differences ◽  
Electoral Competition ◽  
National Level ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
System Change ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Lag Effects

In 1996, New Zealand changed its electoral system from single-member plurality (SMP) to a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system. This article addresses the effects on turnout of electoral system change, generational differences and national and district-level competitiveness. Both theory and cross-sectional empirical evidence indicate that turnout should be higher after the change to MMP. Yet turnout has declined. Most of this turns out to be an effect of lag effects generated by longer-term trends of declining competition, and generational experiences. MMP has shifted the main focus of electoral competition from the district to the national level, with consequent changes in turnout distribution. Electoral boundary changes also have negative effects under MMP, and most MMP elections have taken place after an electoral redistribution.

The Political Consequences of the Alternative Vote: Lessons from Western Canada

2004 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 647-669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold J. Jansen
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
System Change ◽  
The Political ◽  
Western Canada ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
Alternative Vote ◽  
Number Of Parties

Abstract. The alternative vote (AV) is an increasingly popular proposal for electoral reform, largely due to Australia's success with it. This article considers the experiences of Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia with AV in past provincial elections. AV had little impact on proportionality and voter turnout, but did contribute to significantly higher rates of ballot rejection. AV was associated with an increase in the number of parties competing in elections, but this is more likely due to a changing social structure than electoral system change. AV facilitated coalitions where incentives to cooperate already existed, as in British Columbia, but it did little to encourage or induce coalitions in Alberta and Manitoba. On balance, it differed little from the single member plurality system.Résumé. Le vote préférentiel (PV) est une proposition de plus en plus populaire de réforme électorale. Son attrait s'explique en grande partie par son succès en Australie. Cet article étudie les expériences de VP lors d'élections provinciales au Manitoba, en Alberta et en Colombie-Britannique. Le VP a eu peu de répercussions sur la proportionnalité et sur la participation électorale, mais a contribué à augmenter considérablement le nombre de bulletins de vote rejetés. On observe, en association avec le VP, une augmentation du nombre des partis en présence, mais ceci était vraisemblablement dû à l'évolution des structures sociales plus qu'au changement du système électoral. Le VP a facilité les coalitions lorsque des raisons de coopérer existaient déjà, comme en Colombie-Britannique, mais n'a guère encouragé ni provoqué de coalitions en Alberta ni au Manitoba. En définitive, la différence avec le système majoritaire uninominal a été négligeable.

Educating for Devolution: The Scottish Office Voter Education Campaign, 1999

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-50
Author(s):  
Martin Cloonan ◽  
Peter Lynch
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Political Education ◽  
The Political ◽  
Common Elements ◽  
Education Campaign ◽  
Voting System ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Additional Member

This article examines the origins and impact of a political education campaign of a type, which had not hitherto been witnessed in the UK. It examines how the Scottish Office sought to educate Scotland's adult population about a new electoral system which combined the traditional first past the post (FPTP) system used in elections to the Westminster Parliament with the additional member system (AMS). We set out events leading up to the voter-education campaign by outlining the development of the voting system and the political sensitivities which surrounded it We then review a similar voter-education campaign in New Zealand, before examining the Scottish campaign and responses to it. We conclude by drawing together common elements from the two campaigns and analysing the lessons which can be drawn from them.

2018 Fiji Election Results: Patterns of Voting by Provinces, Rural-Urban Localities, and by Candidates

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haruo Nakagawa
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
The Political ◽  
Quantitative Analyses ◽  
Election Results

Akin to the previous, 2014 event, with no data on voter ethnicity, no exit polls, and few post-election analyses, the 2018 Fiji election results remain something of a mystery despite the fact that there had been a significant swing in voting in favour of Opposition political parties. There have been several studies about the election results, but most of them have been done without much quantitative analyses. This study examines voting patterns of Fiji’s 2018 election by provinces, and rural-urban localities, as well as by candidates, and also compares the 2018 and 2014 elections by spending a substantial time classifying officially released data by polling stations and individual candidates. Some of the data are then further aggregated according to the political parties to which those candidates belonged. The current electoral system in Fiji is a version of a proportional system, but its use is rare and this study will provide an interesting case study of the Open List Proportional System. At the end of the analyses, this study considers possible reasons for the swing in favour of the Opposition.

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