Posts Tagged ‘smacking referendum’

Do citizens-initiated referenda hamper democracy?

Written By: - Date published: 11:39 am, June 18th, 2009 - 23 comments

It’s hard to argue with the idea of referenda. What could be more democratic than citizens deciding precisely what issues the New Zealand public should consider, and taking a vote on them? Won’t that process get people thinking, encourage participation in the democratic process and make politics more accessible? Isn’t it the kind of democracy […]

Key’s principled stand

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, June 27th, 2008 - 46 comments

A good cartoon by Mike Moreu this morning about Key’s confusing stance on the smacking referendum. Though of course, as a_y_b pointed out yesterday, this approach isn’t at all confusing if all you’re trying to do is to win an election by accentuating and exploiting negative perceptions of your opponent.

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.