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Abstract
Though the process that led to the adoption of MMP in New Zealand in 1993 has been studied widely, one key step in that process—the , National Party’s decision in 1990 to promise a referendum on electoral reform—has received less attention. It has commonly been assumed that that promise was motivated by short-term electoral calculation. In fact, however, the evidence suggests that reality was more complex and that the principled support of some leading National Party politicians for constitutional reform also played an important role. This article weighs the evidence for the various individual motivations that may have underlain the decision to make the promise, before offering a mixed-motivation interpretation according to which short-term self-interest, genuine belief in constitutional reform, and recognition of the medium-term need to respond to public disquiet all contributed. It finally draws out implications for our understanding of the origins of MMP in New Zealand and for the study of electoral reform more widely.
Notes
1 1The author is grateful to the Hon. Murray McCully, MP, for permission to access-and quote from his papers held at Archives New Zealand; to Peter Aimer, Sir Douglas Graham, and Elizabeth McLeay for comments on earlier drafts;and to the members of the Political Science and International Relations Programme at Victoria University of Wellington for hospitality, advice and assistance during his research in New Zealand. Responsibility for any failings remains, of course, his own.