Is democracy just an illusion?
Who really wins in an election?
It’s been 28 years since New Zealand moved from the First Past the Post (FPP) voting system to Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting system. Does it work?
I was still at university completing my honours degree in Policy/Social Work and I was excited about the options the new voting system might give a country like New Zealand.
New Zealand had been using FPP since the inception of government so the move to MMP was significant to New Zealand democracy.
Why the change to MMP?
To often the party in power had gotten there, by winning the majority of seats, or electorates. Often this didn’t equate to the majority of votes. While there was always an attempt to split the country into electorates, fairly, that wasn’t always the reality. The party winning the majority of votes didn’t always rule! Or govern!
Enter Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting
Countries like Germany, Sri Lanka, South Korea and New Zealand of course, all have variations or hybrids of MMP but MMP is not a widely used voting system.
Unlike FPP where the party that wins the most seats governs, MMP is more complex and can be open to tactical manipulation by parties.
