Adversary politics in the post-Muldoon era

Abstract

The "adversary politics thesis" was conceived in 1974. It postulated that the first past the post electoral system contributed significantly to Britain's relative economic decline. Although this view received an enthusiastic initial response, however, it came to be regarded by many academics with some scepticism. This paper has been written at a time when academic interest in adversary politics is being revived. Its aim is therefore to test the theory in its most recent form. Towards this end, the paper examines the nature of the thesis and the recent amendments to it in the light of New Zealand politics from 1984 to 1992. Based on both primary and secondary material, it gauges the extent to which the conditions described in the thesis have existed in New Zealand during the last eight years. The evidence from the case study supports the "revised" adversary politics thesis. It shows that the linkages which are said to join the first past the post electoral system to negative policy outcomes and economic decline are valid. It also adds a further linkage to those already identified in the form of "quantitative policy reversals", and isolates conditions under which adversary politics may become even more harmful than has previously been believed. This paper provides strong ammunition in favour of electoral reform. It argues that changing to a more proportional electoral system should be an important element in any future attempt to break out of the downward cycle into which the nation's economy seems fixed.