Topic

The Adoption of MMP in New Zealand

Instructions

“In 1996 New Zealand changed to a mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system. What were the arguments in favour of the adoption of MMP in New Zealand? To what extent did the 2017 general election illustrate any shortcomings of MMP?”

Word limit: 1500 words

Answer preview

The New Zealand electoral structure is known as the mixed-member proportional or (MMP) that was enforced after a referendum in 1993 and has been in place since 1996. MMP substituted the first-past-the-post structure (FPP), which is the structure that was in place for most past of New Zealand’s history. The MMP is a comparative structure, which denotes that the fraction of ballots a party acquires reflects principally on the amount of seats that it has in the legislative body. In this voting system, every voter is given two ballot papers, where the first ballot belongs to the political affiliate that the constituent elects that is the party vote.

Word count: 1633