Mixed Member Proportional/MMP Electoral System And The Political Participation Of Women In New Zealand

New Zealand is regarded as a country with prolonged history of feminism.NZ women have been involved in a series of feminist movements since the 1840s,the time when European immigrants first came to this“land of the long white cloud".In 1893,NZ women were granted the right to vote,which made New Zealand the first country to achieve women enfranchisement.In 1919,women won the right to stand for election.Until now,the proportion of women MPs in NZ Parliament has reached over 30%.It is observed that the number of women MPs began to rise when NZ adopted Mixed Member Proportional Electoral System(MMP).Therefore,this thesis proposes a hypothesis that MMP can mobilize the political representation of women.With reference to the analytical procedures,firstly,this thesis gives a brief talk on the different kinds of electoral systems currently available in the world,with special focus on the First Past the Post(FPP)and MMP,which was adopted by NZ chronologically.Secondly,the status of women's political representation under two kinds of political systems is analyzed and presented.Finally,based on the traditional theories of political participation,the influential mechanism of MMP on NZ women's political representation is clarified.Furthermore,this thesis discusses the possible methods that are likely to improve the representative level of NZ women in the future.On the basis of above analysis,this thesis reveals that MMP has posed positive impacts on NZ women's political representation:first,the growing number of MPs and the introduction of party-list seats has increased the odds of women to be elected.Second,the party situation and women-targeting strategy employed by parties under MMP.Since every vote counts in the new political system,almost all parties tend to nominate more women candidates,in order to attract more women voters.Third,the demonstration effect of women's political representation under MMP lead to the rise of women electorate MPs.Finally,we reckon that the integration of MMP and gender quotas may continue improving women representation.