Jonathan Boston

This book is about governing well for the future. It investigates the nature of, and the conditions for, prudent long-term democratic governance in a dynamic, complex, and uncertain world, the reasons why such governance is politically challenging, and how such challenges can best be tackled. In particular, it addresses the problem of ‘short-termism’ – or a ‘presentist bias’ – in policy-making; that is, the risk of governments placing undue weight on near-term considerations at the expense of a society’s overall long-term welfare. As such, the book traverses both normative and empirical issues. The approach is primarily qualitative rather than quantitative.

Offering perspectives from New Zealand's party officials and organizers, as well as from parliamentary candidates, this book focuses on campaigning, both nationwide and in individual electorates. The impact of the media and of political advertising on voter perceptions and electoral choice is examined; how New Zealand parties select their candidates, and with what results, is explained; and the role of leaders in New Zealand’s politics and election campaigning is described. Included are copies of the coalition agreement signed between Labour and the Progressive Coalition, the agreement signed between that coalition and its supporting party, and the subsequent accord agreed to by the coalition and the Greens.