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Category Archives: New Zealand Politics
A Tale of Two Tracks. Part II – Something new under the sun.
[This is the second part of a two-part post. In the first post I argued that our modern world is susceptible to ‘two tracks’ arising in all areas. In this post I argue that it is wrong to claim that … Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, Democracy, Freedom, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology
Tagged Elections, John Key, markets, National, political psychology, Voting
Comments Off on A Tale of Two Tracks. Part II – Something new under the sun.
A Tale of Two Tracks. Part I – A two track world
There’s plenty of interesting side-tracks to travel down in Nicky Hager’s book ‘Dirty Politics‘. But the main track needs to be kept visible. That track is actually two tracks. And those tracks amount to a highly networked web of relationships between a loose … Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, Democracy, Labour, Media, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology
8 Comments
National’s problem – more ‘glass ceiling’ than ‘complacency’
I agree with John Key and Steven Joyce on a couple of points they stressed to the party faithful gathered in Wellington for their recent election year conference. Yes, as John Key argued, this election will be closer than … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology
2 Comments
The real story in the Fairfax polls
There’s an aspect of the political polls that I suspect many people are unaware of. As percentage support for each party is reported, most people probably assume that more people are supporting the parties that show an increase in percent … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy, Labour, New Zealand Politics, Political Polls
Tagged Elections, National, political psychology, Voting
24 Comments
Christchurch and the election
[As an experiment, I’m testing the use of an ‘abstract’ for my posts. Those who don’t want to grind through the long version but would like to know if it might be worth the grind can have an overview of what … Continue reading
Posted in Earthquakes, Education, Labour, New Zealand Politics, Political Polls, Political Psychology
Tagged Brownlee, Christchurch, disaster, Elections, John Key, National, political psychology, Voting
11 Comments
Selling rope
There’s an anecdote, probably apocryphal, that in the early 1920s Lenin claimed that capitalism would provide the rope to hang itself. When some wag (reputedly Grigori Zinoviev, a close associate) responded by asking ‘Where will we get the rope?’ – at … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy, Labour, Maori, Media, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology, Poverty
Tagged capitalism, Elections, ideology, Internet Party, Mana Party, Media, political psychology, Voting
1 Comment
Wafer-thin socialism in nouvelle cuisine budget
It was obviously a budget for political foodies. As pointed out by Christ Trotter, Liam Dann predicted (or advised Bill English to deliver) a ‘cheese and toast‘ budget – comfort food, Kiwi-style. Gordon Campbell, by contrast, hitched his analysis to a … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy, Earthquakes, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology
Tagged Brownlee, Christchurch, Elections, John Key, National, political psychology, Voting
7 Comments
Six impossible things before breakfast
“I’m just one hundred and one, five months and a day.” “I can’t believe that!” said Alice. “Can’t you?” the Queen said in a pitying tone. “Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.” Alice laughed. “There’s no … Continue reading
Posted in Labour, Media, New Zealand Politics
Tagged Elections, Media, political psychology, Shane Jones, Voting
3 Comments
‘What they see is what they get’
“Part of it is, I think, is, I suspect … I’m a pretty laid back, sort of down-to-earth hopefully approachable guy, and, … and, I think kind of again, what they see is what they get and they like that … Continue reading
Foxes, hens, the ‘hard left’ and the myth of the ‘time warp’.
It’s easy to feel a bit giddy – even queasy – after reading and hearing the reaction of politicians and commentators to the appointment of Matt McCarten as David Cunliffe’s Chief of Staff. John Armstrong has invited a picture of … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy, Labour, New Zealand Politics, Political Polls, Political Psychology, Uncategorized
Tagged Elections, John Key, National, political psychology, Voting
2 Comments