Taking it to the people?

"The electoral referendum held in New Zealand on 19 September 1992 was an extraordinary event. Nowhere else in the world has a government, and its main opposition party, agreed to give the country's voters the opportunity to decide for themselves whether or not they wanted to change the existing electoral system -- even though neither party wanted change. Also surprising was the government's decision to fund a public education campaign that would put the issues before the electors "fairly and without bias". The slogan for this campaign was "We're taking it to the people". but while the news media made gallant attempts to provide clear and simple explanations of the different voting systems, many electors still appeared somewhat bemused by the choices confronting them. As well as bringing together a wide selection of contributions to the debate, this book seeks an answer to the question: Were the referendum's issues and options really taken to the people, and if so, with what success? And, since a second and binding referendum is to be held at the same time as the 1993 general election, the final chapter assesses the government's initial proposals for an MMP electoral system and a s