It has been 21 years since the first Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) election. But we do not seem to be learning how to get the best from the system. We are treating it like First-Past-the-Post (FPP). It is time to relax and play to strengths of MMP.
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This much we know: It's a different kind of drag race
Amidst a pletohora of speculation around the government coalition talks, this weekend's final results made one thing very clear and Winston Peters knows it
Read MoreSchrodinger's election
Was the 2017 election a vote for change? Or was it an endorsement of the status quo? The answer is yes ... and no.
Read MoreThe numbers are in, let the politics begin
The official election results finally have been announced. They tell us what we thought they would - so now what will they mean?
Read MoreWhy Voters Will Be Disappointed by the Election Outcome.
New Zealand’s electoral system gives it a parliament which represents voters. Its winner-takes-all executive government, however, remains unrepresentative.* (This is a follow on from the earlier column on coalitions.)
Read MoreIn Praise of Public Servants
This was written before the election outcome is known. It looks at the part of the executive which is not elected: the public servants and advisors.
Read MoreA worry-wort's guide to Election 17 - the Majors
While we wait for the specials to be counted and negotiations to begin, we can review what happened in Election 2017. A determinedly glass half-empty view of the results shows the big two parties have plenty to fret about
Read MoreExclusive: Winston weighs up which way to go
Pundit can reveal an exclusive report from inside Winston's head... We see what he's actually thinking
Read MoreHow governments form under MMP ...
AUT's Julienne Molineaux has written a must-read guide to post-election processes ... anyone wanting to know anything about this should go and read it.
Read MoreA new beast of a government, whichever way Winston goes
The vote this election was quite predictable, but the journey of the campaign was not and whichever new government we get, it will be very different from the John Key years
Read MorePolitics Makes Strange Bedfellows
This is a series of quantitative thoughts on the election outcome. It is based on the 2017 election night vote. Specials are likely to change precise voting shares and even seats. However potential changes do not invalidate the column’s overall conclusions.
Read MoreThe morning after the night before
What do we know, don't we know and think we know after the election night results?
Read MoreBill makes history before heading into the Winston maze
With so much analysis it can be easy to miss the wood for the trees at this point. While there's still nothing certain about our next government, we can look back to look forward and recognise the historic nature of this result
Read MoreHow your vote may turn into a government
So who might be able to work with whom after this weekend's election? Well, it's complicated...
Read MoreNot That Kind of Voting
What the Electoral Commission’s attempt to boost turnout gets wrong about voting, and what we can learn from it.
Which New Zealand are you voting for?
In election week, it all depends on what you see when you look around the country that will determine who gets to celebrate on Saturday night
Read MoreJust when will the fat lady start singing this election?
We'll know the election night results very early on Saturday evening. But we likely won't know the election outcome until early October.
Read MoreAn Alternative to Neoliberalism?
Is public spending stuck in the vicelike grip of our quasi-Austerian economic policy?
Read MoreDid Murray McCully mislead Parliament?
If Murray McCully told Parliament that MFAT told him legal risk justified the Saudi Sheep deal, then why does MFAT say they never told him that?
Read MoreTime for true transparency (& I don't just mean tax)
The lack of transparency in this campaign is galling, but it's not just around tax and water. Under MMP we're voting for a coalition government and it's time politicians started acting like it
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