title: Income Inequality, Voter Turnout and Employment in 2005 – 2014 Elections in New Zealand

authors: Muggeridge, Charlotte

subjects: Political science

abstract: As Robert Dahl put it in 1971, ―a key characteristic of a democracy is the continued responsiveness of the government to the preferences of its citizens, considered as political equals‖. Democracy is thought to break down when equality diminishes. This paper explores the causal relation between an independent variable, income inequality, and a potential dependent variable, voter turnout (as a measure of democratic participation), at the local level in 13 electoral districts in New Zealand over 4 national elections.
For Bühlmann, the three fundamental principles of democracy are equality, freedom and control. Equality usually ranks at the top of most democratic criteria. New Zealand, once regarded as one of the most egalitarian societies in the world, was ranked 23rd out of 34 countries on the OECD measure of income inequality in 2012, and has continued to drop since then, with ―New Zealand [having] the largest increase in income inequality of all the OECD countries since the mid 1980‘s…‖. Of the top 20% of income earners, 86% voted in the New Zealand national elections, compared to the bottom 20% of income earners, where only 75% voted. Goodin and Dryzek argue that the more that economic power is concentrated within the elite, the more the bottom income earners will withdraw from electoral voting.
Participation in politics, in this interpretation, tends to be driven by relative income. Income inequality, in this view, hinders democracy by blocking full participation in society and limiting a sense of belonging. This study has tested these presumptions with a cursory longitudinal analysis of 13 comparative and contrasting local electoral districts in New Zealand, once the most egalitarian and, arguably, most democratic country in the world.
The research shows that household income inequality has an inverse effect on voter turnout, taken as a whole. With the voting that has occurred, there is a clear preference for right-of-centre parties. Regardless of economic standing, citizens are apparently continuing to vote against their immediate interests. The results also suggest that while employment rates are currently high in New Zealand, voter turnout is decreasing and voters perhaps have previously blamed the government for their lack of employment even when they have seemingly lost the bases of their grievances.

text: Income Inequality, Voter Turnout and Employment in 2005 – 2014 Elections in New Zealand As Robert Dahl put it in 1971, ―a key characteristic of a democracy is the continued responsiveness of the government to the preferences of its citizens, considered as political equals‖. Democracy is thought to break down when equality diminishes. This paper explores the causal relation between an independent variable, income inequality, and a potential dependent variable, voter turnout (as a measure of democratic participation), at the local level in 13 electoral districts in New Zealand over 4 national elections.
For Bühlmann, the three fundamental principles of democracy are equality, freedom and control. Equality usually ranks at the top of most democratic criteria. New Zealand, once regarded as one of the most egalitarian societies in the world, was ranked 23rd out of 34 countries on the OECD measure of income inequality in 2012, and has continued to drop since then, with ―New Zealand [having] the largest increase in income inequality of all the OECD countries since the mid 1980‘s…‖. Of the top 20% of income earners, 86% voted in the New Zealand national elections, compared to the bottom 20% of income earners, where only 75% voted. Goodin and Dryzek argue that the more that economic power is concentrated within the elite, the more the bottom income earners will withdraw from electoral voting.
Participation in politics, in this interpretation, tends to be driven by relative income. Income inequality, in this view, hinders democracy by blocking full participation in society and limiting a sense of belonging. This study has tested these presumptions with a cursory longitudinal analysis of 13 comparative and contrasting local electoral districts in New Zealand, once the most egalitarian and, arguably, most democratic country in the world.
The research shows that household income inequality has an inverse effect on voter turnout, taken as a whole. With the voting that has occurred, there is a clear preference for right-of-centre parties. Regardless of economic standing, citizens are apparently continuing to vote against their immediate interests. The results also suggest that while employment rates are currently high in New Zealand, voter turnout is decreasing and voters perhaps have previously blamed the government for their lack of employment even when they have seemingly lost the bases of their grievances.

year: 2017

title: Remnants of the past, history and the present.

authors: Booth, Douglas

subjects: education

abstract: The article interprets that it is hardly surprising then that philosophers of history point to the slender relationship between the raw facts of the past and understanding the past. The latter is an act of interpreting fragments from the past and not infrequently these support several points of view. This question has particular significance at a time when historians are increasingly thinking about historical materials and evidence in radically new ways that are fundamentally changing the nature of history as an academic discipline. In the light of these changes, the first part of the article sketches three different sets of epistemological assumptions that operate in contemporary history; the second applies these assumptions to a more detailed analysis of four pieces of historical material. Reflecting on the analysis in part two, the conclusion discusses the complex relations between the present and the past.

text: Remnants of the past, history and the present. The article interprets that it is hardly surprising then that philosophers of history point to the slender relationship between the raw facts of the past and understanding the past. The latter is an act of interpreting fragments from the past and not infrequently these support several points of view. This question has particular significance at a time when historians are increasingly thinking about historical materials and evidence in radically new ways that are fundamentally changing the nature of history as an academic discipline. In the light of these changes, the first part of the article sketches three different sets of epistemological assumptions that operate in contemporary history; the second applies these assumptions to a more detailed analysis of four pieces of historical material. Reflecting on the analysis in part two, the conclusion discusses the complex relations between the present and the past.

year: 2004

title: Wearable technology for hazardous remote environments: Smart shirt and Rugged IoT network for forestry worker health

authors: Hinze, Annika

subjects: software engineering

abstract: This paper introduces the architecture and details of our wearable IoT solution for workplace health and safety in rugged outdoor environments. We focus on the specific requirements defined by the New Zealand forestry environment as it is the industry with the most fatalities and highest accident rate in New Zealand. Neither consumer-level products nor professional wearables have been found to be suitable for forestry conditions. Furthermore, forestry workplaces cannot rely on existing networking infrastructure, and due to their remote and rugged nature, no permanent setup is possible.

We describe the Hakituri project in which we integrate wearable devices, networking, data analytics, and a buddy system into a novel monitoring solution for worker health and safety. Our wearable IoT solution includes a dynamic network set-up, wearables suitable for forestry conditions, contextual rule-based data analytics, and real-time alerts. A wearable smart shirt carries sensors for collecting personal data from forestry workers, while further environmental sensors capture contextual data. The IoT network is set up for communication in unreliable and rugged outdoor environments. We explore a variety of setups to achieve the best quality outcomes for health and safety in the forestry domain.

text: Wearable technology for hazardous remote environments: Smart shirt and Rugged IoT network for forestry worker health This paper introduces the architecture and details of our wearable IoT solution for workplace health and safety in rugged outdoor environments. We focus on the specific requirements defined by the New Zealand forestry environment as it is the industry with the most fatalities and highest accident rate in New Zealand. Neither consumer-level products nor professional wearables have been found to be suitable for forestry conditions. Furthermore, forestry workplaces cannot rely on existing networking infrastructure, and due to their remote and rugged nature, no permanent setup is possible.

We describe the Hakituri project in which we integrate wearable devices, networking, data analytics, and a buddy system into a novel monitoring solution for worker health and safety. Our wearable IoT solution includes a dynamic network set-up, wearables suitable for forestry conditions, contextual rule-based data analytics, and real-time alerts. A wearable smart shirt carries sensors for collecting personal data from forestry workers, while further environmental sensors capture contextual data. The IoT network is set up for communication in unreliable and rugged outdoor environments. We explore a variety of setups to achieve the best quality outcomes for health and safety in the forestry domain.

year: 2022