Coalition government democratisation
Proportional government means coalition government, which voters, not parties, should determine
Every global thing to gain by taking coalition initiative
Messiah complex is a label few would wish have bestowed. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern would likely rather run a Walker mile than be portrayed as the one who sought to lead the world through the 2020– Pandemic, and through the increasingly unavoidable climate…
stv supercity shake-up, then Wellington
Mayor Goff was elected by barely 18% of registered voters. Len Brown at least, won 47.8% of votes cast, but only because voters were then still in the dark about his grubby use of Auckland Council property. But the bigger crime of both men, and of the Royal…
Democratise coalitions and lists now
Half voted for change, and half for the status quo. The 44.4% who voted for the New Zealand National Party, and the 0.5% who voted for what remains of ex-Labour-finance-minister Roger Douglas’ rebel act party, are now represented by 57 opposition…
Single super-coalition shot for democracy
If New Zealanders elected their prime minister, there would now be a clear winner. And, unless it was under the old deeply undemocratic first-past-the-post system, that winner would be Winston Peters. Because, while Jacinda Ardern and Bill…
Let’s do this, and deliver unperverted democracy
It would be hard to contrive a more effective means of turning youth off. After being lectured for months on the importance of enrolling and voting, young people are now told nothing. Not only are they not told how young people voted, they are not even told…
Just when Jacinda needed Germany most
When Jacinda Ardern stepped up, Labour was on 24% and National was at 47%. Once the special votes are counted, which include whatever youthquake or youth-tremor has occurred, the New Zealand National Party share will be lucky to be 45%…
Failure to fix mmp could cost Labour
Gareth Morgan’s failure to crash last Friday’s leaders debate drew attention to the inescapable. His briefly promising political initiative hasn’t come close to breaking the 5%-threshold barrier to tyro parties, and will not make it into Parliament…
Loyal opposition reaches oblivious conclusion
It was a stroke of unintended brilliance, which has blighted democracy ever since. When John Cam Hobhouse coined the term loyal opposition, in jest, he could’ve had no inkling he would help dignify 190 years of two-party parliaments, where…
After a little shadow voting elect the prime minister
It must be exercising the mind of ‘Mattiavelli’ McCarten. Simply give the job of prime minister, post the election, to ‘Wily’ Winston. After all, it is entirely up to the winning bloc as to who the prime minister should be. Across all voters, Winston…
It might be politicians maintaining the miracle
It has happened only once. That the people, rather than the politicians, of an established democracy have led the change to a more proportional system. In fact, Aotearoa in 1993 elected to change from a sometimes inversely proportional system—the patently undemocratic...
Cure for ills of democracy is smarter democracy
Aotearoa is still very near to having the world’s smartest electoral system. If, as is entirely probable, the Electoral Commission’s proposals become its recommendations, and those recommendations are implemented by Parliament, Aotearoa might…
Very near to being world’s best electoral system
The Mahurangi Magazine has campaigned for MMP to be retained and improved for four and a half years—‘1 2 3, tune-up MMP.’ This submission primarily addresses an inherent historical deficiency of mixed member proportional systems…