Based on New Zealand Election Study (NZES) data from a sample of 2,830 eligible voters, A
Bark But No Bite explores a puzzle. While there was a lot of talk about inequality before the
2014 general election in New Zealand, and during the campaign, concern about inequality
appeared to have no tangible effect on the election outcome. This book shows that, by its
attention to the concerns of middle ground voters, the National Government had reduced the
potential of policy differences to drive voter choices. Perceptions of competence and …

In late October 1990, immediately after the election that felled the Lange–Palmer–Moore
Labour government, approximately 3000 questionnaire booklets arrived at addresses
randomly selected from the electoral rolls. Twenty-five pages long, the questionnaire was a
daunting task to complete. Yet after a little prompting by post card and follow-up
questionnaires, nearly 2000 completed booklets were returned to be coded into what at that
time was the most extensive dataset yet assembled on the characteristics, attitudes and …