Education centre
- SUBTOPICS
Kids Voting
Introduction to Kids Voting - resources for schools Read more »
History of the Vote
An online resource capturing key events in New Zealand's electoral history, including through pictures, sound and video. Read more »
Democracy - everyday concepts
Democracy - everyday concepts has been written to put political science theory in simple terms for anyone interested in how representative democracy works. Read more »
- ARTICLES
Women in parliament 1933 - 2005
Women were first eligible to stand for election to parliament in 1919, although it was not until 1933 that a women won a seat. This table lists women elected to parliament, including when, how, for which party, age at first election, and noting ministerial service. It is also provided as an .xls spreadsheet for user manipulation. Read more »
Now or never - electoral participation literature review
Political Science research indicates that political participation is a learnt habit which is in decline. One strong predictor of levels of participation is efficacy, which refers to an individual’s perception of their ability to know what is going on, be heard and make a difference politically. Another strong predictor is the extent to which people think an election is a real contest and therefore if it is worth voting. Participation is declining as efficacy declines, elections are seen as less competitive and people do not acquire the habit of voting let alone other forms of political participation. The most likely way to stop the decline in adult political participation is for students to acquire the habit at school. A literature review provides a basis for this diagnosis. Read more »
Newspapers in Education 2005 election study
Developed by APN Newspapers in Education with the Electoral Commission as sponsoring partner, this 2005 General Election Resource Kit has about 50 short topics based in newspaper and broader news media research which can be mixed and matched to meet every class or teacher need - including use alongside other resources and activities. Read more »