MMP : a fair and representitive electoral system? : annotated bibliography

Abstract

On 18 February 1985 a Royal Commission was established to investigate and report upon New Zealand's electoral system1. The report was submitted on 11 December 1986. Following referenda in 1992 and 1993 New Zealand adopted a new electoral system known as Mixed Member Proportional (MMP). The first election under MMP was held on 12 October 1996. Section 264 of the Electoral Act 1993 requires that a select committee be set up as soon as practicable after 1 April 2000 to review matters relating to the electoral system2 and to report on the investigation by 1 June 2002. Submissions have been called for and are required by 31 July 2000. The Committee will then convene to consider those submissions. This bibliography seeks to collect together material on the issues associated with the representational aspects of the operation of MMP in New Zealand and to identify ways in which other countries, which have similar systems, accommodate those issues. This bibliography has been prepared primarily to provide members of Parliament and parliamentary staff with a selection of balanced background material from which they can select articles, books and papers to prepare themselves for the forthcoming review of MMP.