3.8 New Zealand's Electoral System with Therese Arseneau

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.

Patreon to fund the transcription of podcast episodes

I have set up a Patreon account to raise funds to pay for the transcription of podcast episodes. If you would like to support this endeavour please visit the Patreon page and sign up for either regular monthly contributions (from $2 pm) to a one-off contribution of whatever you can afford.

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