title: Not a Fair Go: A History and Analysis of Social Credit's Struggle for Success in New Zealand's Electoral System

authors: Calderwood, David James

subjects: New Zealand Politics

abstract: This thesis is an examination of the main issues Social Credit contended with while trying to succeed in New Zealand politics. Its historical and political analysis is in the context of the electoral system.
The first section argues for and describes the changing electoral context and outlines how this created difficulties for Social Credit. It concludes that the movement faced very adverse electoral periods for third parties. The second part examines founder Major C.H. Douglas's Social Credit vision and charts Social Credit's political adaptations from its New Zealand beginnings to the time Bruce Beetham took over as leader in 1972. It challenges the myths that Social Credit could not change without ceasing to be Social Credit and that its economics were unworkable.
In the third section the centrality of Beetham's leadership to Social Credit success is explored by looking at his life, personality, beliefs and vision for the movement. It concludes that he believed in Social Credit and that his drive and dedication were essential to Social Credit's revival. Then the thesis follows Social Credit's electoral progress from 1972 to 1981. It examines the impact from its own activities and other political actors and circumstances. This includes effects from organisational changes, the effect of growing and changing membership and the sources of its votes. 
The fifth part outlines the factors that put Social Credit into permanent decline after 1981. These include the Clyde dam issue, the emerging New Zealand party, the 1984 snap election and the failure to revitalise the party. Finally, it examines Social Credit influence on the electoral system itself, particularly in regard to the move to proportional representation. Here its existence and size mattered more than direct action.

The contribution of this thesis is, firstly, in challenging the usual roles assigned to third parties. Second, it outlines the characteristics of different electoral periods. Third, it examines the nature of Social Credit in a more positive way. Fourth, it looks at the electoral elements that shaped Social Credit's successes and failures. Finally, it shows the effects of professionalisation on a typical party branch.

text: Not a Fair Go: A History and Analysis of Social Credit's Struggle for Success in New Zealand's Electoral System This thesis is an examination of the main issues Social Credit contended with while trying to succeed in New Zealand politics. Its historical and political analysis is in the context of the electoral system.
The first section argues for and describes the changing electoral context and outlines how this created difficulties for Social Credit. It concludes that the movement faced very adverse electoral periods for third parties. The second part examines founder Major C.H. Douglas's Social Credit vision and charts Social Credit's political adaptations from its New Zealand beginnings to the time Bruce Beetham took over as leader in 1972. It challenges the myths that Social Credit could not change without ceasing to be Social Credit and that its economics were unworkable.
In the third section the centrality of Beetham's leadership to Social Credit success is explored by looking at his life, personality, beliefs and vision for the movement. It concludes that he believed in Social Credit and that his drive and dedication were essential to Social Credit's revival. Then the thesis follows Social Credit's electoral progress from 1972 to 1981. It examines the impact from its own activities and other political actors and circumstances. This includes effects from organisational changes, the effect of growing and changing membership and the sources of its votes. 
The fifth part outlines the factors that put Social Credit into permanent decline after 1981. These include the Clyde dam issue, the emerging New Zealand party, the 1984 snap election and the failure to revitalise the party. Finally, it examines Social Credit influence on the electoral system itself, particularly in regard to the move to proportional representation. Here its existence and size mattered more than direct action.

The contribution of this thesis is, firstly, in challenging the usual roles assigned to third parties. Second, it outlines the characteristics of different electoral periods. Third, it examines the nature of Social Credit in a more positive way. Fourth, it looks at the electoral elements that shaped Social Credit's successes and failures. Finally, it shows the effects of professionalisation on a typical party branch.

year: 2010

title: Talking with Their Mouths Half Full: food insecurity in the Hamilton community

authors: McNeill, Kellie Irene Blair

subjects: food security

abstract: While the sociology of food has attended to what symbolisms of presence can tell us about society, the same attention has not been attributed to symbolisms of absence. Within the context of affluent post-industrial societies, food insecurity means that people are “at times, uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food for all household members because they had insufficient money and other resources for food” (Nord et al. 2009, p. 2). This project is a comprehensive study of responses to, and experiences of, food insecurity in Hamilton City. The issue of food insecurity has been difficult to politicise in New Zealand. One of the reasons for this is that the demand for food aid is usually reported by individual organisations, rather than across the entire food support sector. The first phase of this research was a multi-provider survey that documented the demand for formal food support in Hamilton over a one year period in 2006/2007. The findings show that during this time the community absorbed $1,157,623 worth of state funded Special Needs Grants for Food, while philanthropically funded third sector organisations provided 4,232 food parcels and 25,557 community meals. The survey findings demonstrate that the socio-political environment in which formal food support takes place is characterised by the unwillingness of the state to fully realise its role in affirming the right of citizens to be free from hunger. At the same time, there is evidence of a corresponding willingness to delegate provision of food aid to charity based third sector organisations that receive no state funding. The second phase of the study was a qualitative exploration of the experiences of ten community members who were confirmed as food insecure using the ‘Standard 6-item Indicator to Classifying Households by Food Security Status’ (Bickel et al., 2000). The data showed that, as far as they were able, respondents exercised a range of endogenous strategies (the means that individuals and households applied in the private domain to manage food insecurity and hunger), but ultimately, the utility of these diminished. In this event, respondents pursued either informal exogenous strategies (through social networks), or, particularly where there were limitations on social capital, formal exogenous strategies in the form of service use. This study points to food insecurity as an experience that is shrouded with secrecy, shame and fear of stigma. Further, the experience carries with it a range of social implications in the form of exclusion, marginalisation and disempowerment, all of which have seldom been recognised elsewhere in the literature. In acknowledging the complex and non-linear nature of food insecurity at macro, meso and micro levels, Rittel and Webber’s (1973) criteria for ‘wicked problems’ is utilised as a theoretical framework for synthesising the findings. The thesis advocates for a collaborative approach to re-solving the persistence of food insecurity in which the range of stakeholders involved is broadened to include those who ‘talk with their mouths half full’.

text: Talking with Their Mouths Half Full: food insecurity in the Hamilton community While the sociology of food has attended to what symbolisms of presence can tell us about society, the same attention has not been attributed to symbolisms of absence. Within the context of affluent post-industrial societies, food insecurity means that people are “at times, uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food for all household members because they had insufficient money and other resources for food” (Nord et al. 2009, p. 2). This project is a comprehensive study of responses to, and experiences of, food insecurity in Hamilton City. The issue of food insecurity has been difficult to politicise in New Zealand. One of the reasons for this is that the demand for food aid is usually reported by individual organisations, rather than across the entire food support sector. The first phase of this research was a multi-provider survey that documented the demand for formal food support in Hamilton over a one year period in 2006/2007. The findings show that during this time the community absorbed $1,157,623 worth of state funded Special Needs Grants for Food, while philanthropically funded third sector organisations provided 4,232 food parcels and 25,557 community meals. The survey findings demonstrate that the socio-political environment in which formal food support takes place is characterised by the unwillingness of the state to fully realise its role in affirming the right of citizens to be free from hunger. At the same time, there is evidence of a corresponding willingness to delegate provision of food aid to charity based third sector organisations that receive no state funding. The second phase of the study was a qualitative exploration of the experiences of ten community members who were confirmed as food insecure using the ‘Standard 6-item Indicator to Classifying Households by Food Security Status’ (Bickel et al., 2000). The data showed that, as far as they were able, respondents exercised a range of endogenous strategies (the means that individuals and households applied in the private domain to manage food insecurity and hunger), but ultimately, the utility of these diminished. In this event, respondents pursued either informal exogenous strategies (through social networks), or, particularly where there were limitations on social capital, formal exogenous strategies in the form of service use. This study points to food insecurity as an experience that is shrouded with secrecy, shame and fear of stigma. Further, the experience carries with it a range of social implications in the form of exclusion, marginalisation and disempowerment, all of which have seldom been recognised elsewhere in the literature. In acknowledging the complex and non-linear nature of food insecurity at macro, meso and micro levels, Rittel and Webber’s (1973) criteria for ‘wicked problems’ is utilised as a theoretical framework for synthesising the findings. The thesis advocates for a collaborative approach to re-solving the persistence of food insecurity in which the range of stakeholders involved is broadened to include those who ‘talk with their mouths half full’.

year: 2011

title: Restorying the individual: The cultural dimension of special education in three Te Arawa sites

authors: Macfarlane, Angus H

subjects: Māori special education

abstract: On the basis of observation of three Te Arawa educational sites, it is argued here that a central characteristic of successful programmes that attend to Māori students with special needs is cultural-centredness. Significant aspects of that culture-centredness are outlined here, aspects that, it is argued, are fundamental to the process of restorying that is, it is argued, critical to the success of many Māori students, particularly those with special needs.

text: Restorying the individual: The cultural dimension of special education in three Te Arawa sites On the basis of observation of three Te Arawa educational sites, it is argued here that a central characteristic of successful programmes that attend to Māori students with special needs is cultural-centredness. Significant aspects of that culture-centredness are outlined here, aspects that, it is argued, are fundamental to the process of restorying that is, it is argued, critical to the success of many Māori students, particularly those with special needs.

year: 2002-09