Partisanship, ideology, and political system support are the most important factors influencing voters’ electoral system preference

The 2011 AV referendum demonstrated the difficulty of enacting electoral reform through public mobilisation, and changes in electoral rules usually result from elite discussions rather than citizen demands. However, New Zealand represents an example of voters pushing through a new electoral system against the will of reluctant politicians. Willy Jou explores factors that affected New Zealand citizens’ electoral system preferences by analysing voters surveys over a 15-year period, and finds that voters who identify with smaller parties, identify themselves as left-of-centre, or express discontent with the functioning of democracy consistently favoured a proportional system over first-past-the-post, whereas trust in government and assessment of economic conditions (as a proxy for government.