Researcher ORCID Identifier
0000-0002-1007-9504
Graduation Year
2021
Date of Submission
12-2021
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Award
Best Senior Thesis in Public Policy
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Reader 1
Eric Helland
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2021 Harrison G Hosking
Abstract
Conscience voting in the New Zealand House of Representatives offers a unique opportunity to assess Sam Peltzman’s ‘Principal-Agent Theory’ as outlined in his 1984 paper, Constituent Interest and Congressional Voting.
This thesis begins with a brief assessment of the principal-agent model (and other literature regarding parliamentary representation) before looking at the New Zealand Parliamentary system and the phenomenon of private member’s bills and how they aid the legislative process. This is followed by an exploration of a constructed dataset of conscience votes that have occurred since the inception of the mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system in 1996. An analysis of the conscience voting patterns of the 52nd Parliament is then undertaken and an attempt to form an ideology score for each Member of Parliament present since the 45th Parliament, based purely off of a subset of these conscience votes, is then formed. This is followed by regression analysis and statistical prediction analysis that aim to capture a measure of ‘legislative shirking’ as well as assess the strength of the principal-agent theory when it comes to conscience voting and the various factors that comprise it. Finally, I aim to qualitatively assess the motives behind conscience voting in the New Zealand House of Representatives through interviews with several current Members of Parliament who were present during the 52nd Parliament session, including Dr. Deborah Russell, Tim van de Molen and Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki. I conclude with a final discussion and assessment of the topic of conscience voting in the New Zealand House of Representatives.
Recommended Citation
Hosking, Harrison, "‘It’s Like Baking a Cake’: An Analysis of Conscience Voting in the New Zealand House of Representatives since the Introduction of the Mixed-Member Proportional System in 1996" (2021). CMC Senior Theses. 2843.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2843
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