Social Credit as a parliamentary party: a study of the effects of electoral success and failure on a third party within a two-party system

Abstract

The New Zealand electorate from 1966 to 1969 performed an interesting electoral experiment by elevating the third party, the Social Credit Political League to parliamentary status, and then withdrawing that status. For the political scientist, the League's three-year experience as a parliamentary party offers a unique opportunity to investigate in depth the nature of the so-called two-party system, and the reasons for the continued existence of third parties in such systems. As well, the period offers an opportunity to study the effects on a political party of sudden granting and sudden removal of parliamentary status; and to assess more accurately the role played by the electoral system in determining the fate of political parties. New Zealand voting patterns since the mid-1930s have been predominantly those of a stable, class-based two-party system. From 1949 to 1972 the ruling National Party spent only three years (1957-60) out of office. The general elections of 1966 and 1969, however, while producing little change in the relative parliamentary strengths of the National and Labour opposition parties, were notable for major shifts of voting support involving the third party.