Auckland, New Zealand – fair game for central party politics

Webster, Karen; Asquith, Andy; Rohan, Maheswaren; Cardow, Andrew; Majavu, Mandisi

doi:10.1080/03003930.2019.1584558

Cited by 4 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…As noted earlier, in New Zealand many candidates describe themselves as an 'independent' or simply ignore identifying their status (Webster et al 2019a), regardless of previous political affiliation. During the 2016 election campaign the then prime minister even observed that the value to be gained from CJLG June 2021 90 reading the candidate profile booklet was so limited that he never read it, simply voting for those candidates with whom he was familiar (New Zealand Politics Daily 2016).…”

Section: Council and Candidate Informationmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…However, Bush offers no rationale for why political parties have been unwanted in local government. In fact, in recent times party affiliation at the local level has been on the rise in New Zealand's two largest cities (Webster et al 2019a(Webster et al , 2019b. Between 2007 and 2016, the number of candidates affiliating overtly to a political party doubled in Auckland (from 15% to 38%) and Christchurch (11% to 26%) (Webster et al 2019b).…”

Section: The Role Of Party Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is also well acknowledged in New Zealand and internationally that local politics can serve as a 'stepping-stone' for candidates seeking experience in grass-roots politics and campaigning before contesting a central government seat (Copus 1997;Copus and Erlingsson 2012;Webster et al 2019b (Webster et al 2019a).…”

Section: The Role Of Party Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally on this point of candidate 'familiarity', considerable evidence suggests that the way people get to 'know' a candidate in local body elections is if he or she is a well-known figure or has 'been in the job' for a number of years (Bush 1980(Bush , 1981Drage 2008). Once again, with high councillor to population ratios, the lack of political party involvement in local elections is all the more intriguing given the finding of Webster et al (2019b;2019a) that clear party affiliation can have a significant beneficial impact on a candidate's chances of electoral success.…”

Section: Council and Candidate Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This applies particularly to mayoral elections in the larger cities. There are nationally-set caps on the amount a candidate may spend in Auckland, and to a lesser extent the other CJLG June 2021 91 major urban areas, but candidates' expenses can still be considerable (Webster et al 2019a (Niall 2016). It was also suggested by Orsman (2016) that Goff had raised NZ$250,000 in a single fundraising dinner for his 2016 campaign.…”

Section: Cost Of Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Voting in New Zealand local government elections: the need to encourage greater voter turnout

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Within a global context, local government in New Zealand occupies an enviable position: it enjoys both a statutorily-defined ‘power of general competence’ and financial autonomy from central government. However, despite this, voter turnout rates in New Zealand local elections continue to fall as ever fewer New Zealanders engage in this fundamental act of civic engagement. This review article examines the decline in voting over the last four New Zealand local government elections (2010/13/16/19). It aims to do three things: plot the decline; identify and analyse the causes of this decline; and suggest ways in which the decline might be countered. The authors reach the conclusion that local government in New Zealand is at a crossroads – it will either be rejuvenated as a source of local democracy and prosper, or decline into an administrative arm of central government.

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Section: Council and Candidate Informationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: The Role Of Party Politicsmentioning

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Conserving the Councillor: A Case for Widespread Local Officeholding

McDonnell

2023

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Guided by participatory and deliberative conceptions of democracy, local governments have embraced the need for increased citizen participation in decision-making. Yet, at the same time, a systematic reduction in the number of councillor seats has seen a precipitous decline in opportunities to participate in the council chamber. With specific reference to the Australian case, this paper seeks to explain this incongruity, suggesting that the answer lies in the wide adoption of democratic theorists' narrow conceptualisation of the role of the councillor. Viewed solely as representatives, whether in the corporate, mirror, or delegate mode, councillors are valued only insofar as they prove instrumental to an efficient and responsive system of governance. Their participation, itself, is not intrinsically valued. Drawing on novel and extant empirical evidence to demonstrate the participatory virtues of officeholding, this paper argues that when due regard is afforded to councillors' participatory role, a normative case for widespreadand more inclusiveofficeholding emerges.

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Understanding Support for Municipal Political Parties: Evidence from Canada

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The province of Ontario, Canada, has a longstanding history of non-partisanship in municipal elections. In this distinctive context, we report results on citizen attitudes toward municipal partisanship using a survey of eligible voters in Canada's most populous province. Using a mixed-methods approach, we focus on three interrelated research questions. First, how much does citizen support for municipal parties depend on the type of party under consideration? Second, what reasons do citizens provide for their preference for either municipal political parties or independents? Finally, what are the correlates of support for municipal parties? We find little support for municipal political parties, and that many voters have sophisticated reasons for preferring either independents or parties. We also identify several factors associated with support for parties. These results provide an in-depth picture of attitudes on municipal partisanship in Ontario, and suggest that public opinion may provide an overlooked mechanism that maintains Ontario's non-partisanship.

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Auckland, New Zealand – fair game for central party politics

Cited by 4 publications

References 27 publications

Voting in New Zealand local government elections: the need to encourage greater voter turnout

Voting in New Zealand local government elections: the need to encourage greater voter turnout

Conserving the Councillor: A Case for Widespread Local Officeholding

Understanding Support for Municipal Political Parties: Evidence from Canada

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