Beyond the cries of 'Muldoonism' and 'North Korean', the Labour-Greens power announcement is an important landmark on the road to the 2014 election – a challenge to orthodoxy and the rise of an alternative
Read More2012 Apocalypse Edition: The Year of the Black Dragon
Political Notes from 2012: o'seas & domestic political rants of a purely existential nature - no strings attached version
Read MorePM's referendum comments unwise and manipulative
John Key's decision to speak out against MMP smells of partisan greed and hubris. It also raises questions for women, Asian and Pasifika voters and about what his tactics have been all along
Read MoreIt's all about 2014
Natural and international disasters have absolved National of the usual competency tests, but do New Zealanders really want a single party majority government?
Read MorePrepare for the SM onslaught
Why would I choose to make my vote less equal? Or, the growing challenge from the Supplementary Member system and how MMP can adapt and triumph in the referendum
Read More2008 redux: Farewell Awards
Spreading the Christmas cheer before he takes time off to finish his next book, Jon reviews 2008's stand-out political performances, for good and ill,
Read MoreThe Beltway Blues: Random Thoughts from Inside the Bubble
Cue harmonica: It looks like the more things change in parliament, the more they stay the same.
Read MoreThe problem of partisan noise
Yes, the technology revolution has allowed many more people to participate in their democracy, but the most successful outgrowth of that revolution--the partisan political blog--does more to cloud than elucidate democratic discourse
Read MoreOde To Hunter S. Thompson
Jon wallows in sickly misery and nostalgia with Hunter S. Thompson as his only guide
Read MoreKnights & Dames
Jon dispenses with aroha to explore John Key's retrograde plan to restore knighthoods
Read MoreThe Hangover Election
Jon damns the media coverage in this campaign, reviews the Clark era, and picks his standout moment of election night.
Read MoreI too, sing America
A quick, poetic word about yesterday's powerful uplift
Read MoreDemocratic Big Change, Part II—Bi-partisanship
Jon makes the case for greater bi-partisanship between Labour and National and sets a challenge for Saturday night's winner
Read More2008 Election & Beyond: Democratic Big Change, Part I
Jon explores our democratic deficit, arguing that a democratic summit be convened irrespective of who wins power on Saturday
Read MoreTwo Weeks to Go: The Roulette Wheel
Jon explores the gambles underpinning John Key and Helen Clark's electoral strategies and says it's no good blaming the roulette wheel if we place all our money on only one number.
Read MoreGenerational change: a question of language
An important dimension underpinning generation change is political language. Jon Johansson analyses both main party leader's opening addresses and finds scant evidence of any new paradigm emerging.
Read MoreCan John Key become the Great Preparer?
Jon argues that 2008 is rife for preparatory leadership, but wonders whether National's small-target political strategy has blunted Jon Key's ability to deliver it.
Read MoreFortuna and the politics of big change
Jon explores the 'four torrents' of New Zealand's political history, concluding that in this year's campaign the big ideas that could represent our next big change period are being subsumed by small ones.
Read MoreThe mandate of heaven is not forever
Jon's column introduces the concept of a generational shift and asks whether this election will see a 24-year cycle of politics finally come to an end.
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