Coalition government and satisfaction with democracy: An analysis of New Zealand's reaction to proportional representation

被引:12
作者
Karp, JA
Bowler, S
机构
[1] Univ Amsterdam, Amsterdam Sch Commun Res, NL-1012 CE Amsterdam, Netherlands
[2] Univ Calif Riverside, Dept Polit Sci, Riverside, CA 92521 USA
关键词
D O I
10.1111/1475-6765.00589
中图分类号
D0 [政治学、政治理论];
学科分类号
0302 ; 030201 ;
摘要
Following approval of a referendum in 1993, New Zealand replaced its first-past-the-post electoral system with proportional representation (PR). Although support for PR was initially high, less than a third expressed support for the new system a year and a half after its implementation. We examine two explanations for this decline. One theory assumes that dissatisfaction with the new system is the result of a growing alienation with politics, exacerbated by an unpopular coalition government that voters neither expected nor desired. Another theory assumes that evaluations of the new system are mediated by a preference for coalition or single party government. Our results indicate that a preference for single party government, guided primarily by partisan self-interest, has the largest impact. Nevertheless, negative evaluations of the performance of the coalition government helped contribute to a loss in support for PR suggesting that government performance can affect citizen's evaluation of political institutions, particularly when systems undergo radical change.
引用
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页码:57 / 79
页数:23
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