Month: July 2019

In episode eight of season three of the podcast, I’m speaking with Therese Arseneau about the introduction of a mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system.

Therese was an expert advisor to the New Zealand Electoral Commission between 2010 and 2016. She is currently an Adjunct Senior Fellow with the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Therese sets out

  • the background to the referendum which led to the introduction of MMP in New Zealand [1:20]
  • how voters view the impact of MMP [13:30]
  • the reality of MMP and coalition governments [21:20]
  • the impact of MMP on women’s representation [28:10]
  • the wider impact of MMP [34:00] and
  • Maori representation generally and the impact of MMP [39:30]

The story of New Zealand’s radical change to their electoral system and it’s broad impacts is a fascinating one.

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The next podcast episode will be about electoral systems in South East Asia.

Check out this episode!

TRANSCRIPT [PDF]

Nivek Thompson [NT]: This is the first episode in a bonus series of Real Democracy Now! a podcast, talking about deliberation, culture, and context.

Welcome to Real Democracy Now! I’m Nivek Thompson and Real Democracy Now! Is a podcast for people who think we can, and should, improve how democracy works. This podcast looks at democracy from different angels to help you think about how democracy might be improved.

Welcome to episode one in this special bonus series of Real Democracy Now! a podcast, talking about deliberation, culture and context. This bonus series has been made in collaboration with the Centre for Deliberative Democracy & Global Governance at the University of Canberra.

In this series, I will speak with a number of people who participated in the Centre’s recent conference which brought together scholars from around the world to examine the different forms, meanings, and significance associated with deliberation in various cultures and contexts.

This conference was supported by John Dryzek’s ARC Laureate Fellowship entitled “Deliberative Worlds: Democracy, Justice and a Changing Earth System.”

In this episode, I’m speaking with Jensen Sass one of the conference organisers. Jensen is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance.

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