Research note: The New Zealand Election Study

Achievement of well-being, the advancement of social equity, and the advanc ement of social inclusiveness in New Zealand society depend, among other th ings, on a robust and healthy democracy. At the beginning of the twenty-fir st century New Zealand cannot take the quality of its democratic performanc e for granted, Since 1984 electoral turnout has fallen significantly, and t hose less likely to participate in elections are disproportionately concent rated among Maori, the young, and those on lower incomes. General public cy nicism about politicians and Parliament is high. Membership of political pa rties is low compared with twenty or thirty years ago. People advocated the change to a new election system, Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) because t hey believed MMP would promote better representation, higher political acco untability, increase turnout, and perhaps in the longer term reduce the adv ersarial nature of politics. Changes to the Maori electorates were also exp ected to increase the effectiveness of Maori representation. The current ph ase of the New Zealand Election Study is designed to rigorously assess the consequences of the change to MMP on the health of New Zealand democracy in general, and to contribute to the assessment of MMP and of Maori represent ation underway during 2000 and 2001.