New Report Proposes Solutions To New Zealand’s ‘Democratic Deficit’
A new report released today by think tank Economic and Social Research Aotearoa examines the persistent problem of voter
turnout decline and highlights four potential solutions. The report, authored by Jack Foster and Dylan Taylor, argues
the decline in voter turnout is symptomatic of structural problems with the content and delivery of representative
democracy in this county. Fundamental changes in economic distribution, political representation, and the role of
government are needed for this trend to be reversed.
Foster said ‘Voter turnout has declined steadily since the 1984 General Election. The 2011 General Election saw only
69.6% of the estimated eligible population vote, an historic low since the introduction of universal suffrage. While
there were mild increases in turnout in the 2014 and 2017 general elections, over a quarter of the eligible population
still abstained in each.’
‘While non-voters are socio-demographically diverse, the ‘typical’ non-voter is more likely to be young, have a low
income, and be from non-Pākehā ethnic groups, meaning that these groups are systematically under-represented in
parliament.’
As turnout decline is linked to macroeconomic changes, the report’s authors call for structural changes to address this.
The report proposes stricter limits on electoral spending to curb the influence of wealthy donors on political parties’
policy development, and a three-percent threshold for parties’ entry to parliament, on the basis that this would
increase representation and reduce the problem of ‘wasted votes’.
Four solutions for stimulating voter turnout are offered. First, political parties should seek to genuinely reflect the
interests of the working class, the precarious, and ethnic minorities. Second, unions must be strengthened so that they
can play a mobilising role in electoral politics. Third, the government must actively intervene in the economy to
reverse the economic inequality that contributes to voter turnout decline. Fourth, the authors suggest a far-reaching
redistribution of wealth and of the mechanisms by which this wealth is produced.
‘Wealth inequality is antithetical to the concept of democracy,’ says Foster. ‘As long as some citizens have far more
material wealth than others, they will continue to wield an outsized degree of political influence and delegitimise the
foundation of representative electoral democracy: that one person has one vote and that all votes are equal in
influence’.
The report can be found in full at https://www.esra.nz/voter-turnout-decline-possibilities-rejuvenation-politics/
ends