Tag Archives: Elections

Spotlight on Christchurch – Part I: Manufacturing crises and consents

Posted on 6th Jul, 2013 by Puddleglum

[Prologue: The bulk of this was written before I heard the news that Bob Parker was not going to contest the upcoming local body elections as a mayoral candidate. The same is true for the second part of this three-part … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Earthquakes, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Key’s approach won’t work “over time”

Posted on 28th Oct, 2012 by Puddleglum

It is often said that those who “Live by the sword, die by the sword“. It might also be said that those politicians who, less excitingly, live by portraying themselves as ‘pragmatic’ and ‘non-ideological’ will, in the fullness of time, … Continue reading →

Posted in National Identity, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

The school of hard knocks and ‘the curious incident of the dog…’ – Part I

Posted on 24th Sep, 2012 by Puddleglum

Often the best way to learn something is the hard way. You tend not to forget when you get bruised in the process. If that’s the case, then many Cantabrians are gaining memorable lessons about what it is like to … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Earthquakes, Education, Freedom, Human Wellbeing, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

ECan, the government and the ‘Picture of Dorian Gray’

Posted on 11th Sep, 2012 by Puddleglum

It is hard to understand why it appears to have received so little attention or commentary nationwide (with some honourable exceptions). The extension of the rule of the ECAN Commissioners announced by David Carter (Local Government Minister) and Amy Adams … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Earthquakes, Economics, Fascism, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Disdaining democracy

Posted on 25th Apr, 2012 by Puddleglum

All those years ago – you know, way back when John Key wasn’t the Prime Minister – the populace, so we found out, was getting restless. Its main complaint about the government of the day was that it was ‘off … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Economics, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

‘Not Electioneering’, Key-style

Posted on 10th Feb, 2012 by Puddleglum

‘Nothing to do with me‘, says Key (and Joyce). After all, John Key explicitly announced in the first minute of the one hour Radio Live ‘PM’s Hour’ that it was an “election free zone”. But that raises the question of … Continue reading →

Posted in New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on ‘Not Electioneering’, Key-style

Boil; Pour; Stew – Drink?

Posted on 30th Jan, 2012 by Puddleglum

The way to get tea so strong you could stand the teaspoon up in it and produce that almost unbearably metallic, bitter tannin taste in your mouth is to follow the age old recipe: Boil; Pour; Stew. Well, they call … Continue reading →

Posted in New Zealand Politics, Political Polls, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Election Prediction No. 1 – Fewer than 30,000 people will vote for John Key

Posted on 12th Nov, 2011 by Puddleglum

It’s clear that fewer than 30,000 New Zealanders will end up voting for Prime Minister John Key in the upcoming elections. It’s also clear that somewhere north of 1,000,000 New Zealanders will, after voting day, think that they have voted … Continue reading →

Posted in New Zealand Politics, Political Polls, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Cut throat politics

Posted on 11th Oct, 2011 by Puddleglum

It doesn’t take long to collect examples of throat-slashing gestures on the internet: Here, here, here and here – and that’s just for starters on the first google page. Interestingly, they are all incidents in highly charged, competitive, high stakes … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Cut throat politics

On choices – good and bad

Posted on 5th Sep, 2011 by Puddleglum

As the election draws near, it’s clear that ‘welfare reform’ will be one of the main areas of discussion and debate. It’s also, historically, an area littered with sloganesque arguments that fly around like empty cartridge shells at the OK … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Wellbeing, New Zealand Politics, Welfare | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments