Abstract
New Zealand, like many other democratic countries, has a long history of populist politicians. In the current political scene, Winston Peters and his New Zealand First Party represent the clearest examples of populism (Gustafson, 2006). Drawing on a set of recorded interviews with Wellington voters, Woodhams examines the ways in which Peters’ claims to a populist identity are negotiated in interaction (Gee, 2000). Analysis identifies a division between younger and older voters: younger participants tend to prioritise Peters’ entertaining qualities, whereas the older foreground his political experience, unpredictability and untrustworthiness. All participants engage in different ways with Peters’ identities, indicating the mixed success of populist strategies in this context and demonstrating the importance of listening to the voices of the people in the study of populist discourse.
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Notes
- 1.
Modern spelling conventions require a macron denoting a long vowel: Māori. Quotations that use the earlier convention omitting the macron are presented in their original form.
- 2.
The election outcomes for smaller political parties are particularly relevant in the context of New Zealand’s mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting system, introduced after a 1993 referendum, in which post-election deal-making between parties is usually necessary.
- 3.
Informed consent was gained from all participants and research approved by Victoria University of Wellington’s Human Ethics Committee.
- 4.
NZ First received 6.59% of party votes at the 2011 general election, compared to 11.06% for the Green Party, 27.48% for the Labour Party, and 47.31% for the National Party (Electoral Commission, 2012).
- 5.
The transcription notation used throughout this chapter is adapted from that used by the Wellington Language in the Workplace Project (Vine, Johnson, O’Brien, & Robertson, 2002). Capital letters are not used in transcripts except in cases of emphatic stress, thus proper nouns most often appear in lower case. Transcription conventions are provided at the beginning of this volume.
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Woodhams, J.M. (2019). An Untrustworthy Entertainer: Populist Identities in the Voices of New Zealand Voters. In: Macaulay, M. (eds) Populist Discourse. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97388-3_5
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