Our Second Leader in our Digital Edition September 1, 2022
Venkat Raman
Auckland, September 1, 2022
Every time there is a political fallout, the question is raised: “Where did we go wrong?”
Protagonists of democracy believe that the pre-selection process followed by their Party is the best but soon begin to eat their words- because as a Parliamentary term nears two years, the winter of discontent begins. We have seen it more frequently in the past few years- a rogue gets out of line, either through a transgression of the past or a faux pas of the present – bringing down his or her political party and becoming a subject of national debate. They get relegated and the world goes on until the next calamity occurs.
Tightening the process
Political Parties – in our case, Labour, National, ACT, Green, New Zealand First and the Maori – will do well to tighten their pre-selection process and ensure that the candidates coming through to the ballot boxes are mentally strong, capable of leading a tough life in a glass house.
Labour and National have had their share of cataclysms in recent years and hence must put in place a stringent regime of selection and education. Every Member of Parliament should take lessons in public and private behaviour and how to preserve values. As senior politicians would say, ‘People First, Party Next, Your Interests Last.’
Professors Reuven Y Hazan and Gideon Rahat of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem make several points of interest in their book, ‘Democracy within Parties: Candidate Selection Methods and their Political Consequences.’ According to them, while democratic theory places great importance on the conduct of elections, it is not often recognised that the electoral game takes place in two arenas, not only between parties but also within them.
The electoral game
Their book presents a new approach to understanding political parties. It sheds light on the inner dynamics of party politics and offers the first comprehensive analysis of one of the most important processes any party undertakes – its process of candidate selection.
The authors conduct an in‐depth analysis of the consequences of different candidate selection methods on democracy. A review says that the book is a culmination of almost two decades of research and defines the field of candidate selection.
It delineates candidate selection methods based on four major dimensions: candidacy, the selectorate, decentralisation, and voting versus appointment systems.
“The definition of candidate selection methods is the predominantly non-standardised and unregimented mechanisms by which political parties choose their candidates for the general elections. The importance of candidate selection is not only for the candidates and their parties, but also for their parent legislature and its performance – it influences the balance of power within the party, determines the personal composition of parliaments, and impacts the behaviour of legislators.”
When the first New Zealand Parliament met in 1854, there were 37 members- there were no political parties and hence all of them were Independent candidates. The current, 53rd Parliament has 120 members representing five parliamentary parties.
Someone suggested a few years ago that 120 members are too many for a population of five million and that the number should be reduced to 90.
Looking at the parade of inert events, that does not seem to be a bad idea.
