They are both described as stable democracies, but at the moment, their elections could not be more different.
In the US, the election on November 3 has been described as a watershed moment for the country as the Democrat’s Joe Biden challenges the sitting President Donald Trump.
In New Zealand, the election on October 17 has been described as important but par for the course. National’s leader Judith Collins has the mammoth task of taking on Labour’s globally popular Jacinda Arden.
The immediate differences between the nation’s are obvious: New Zealand has a population of 4.8 million and a GDP of 204 billion; the US has a population of 302 million and a GPD of 20 trillion.
While size and wealth do contribute to the global newsworthiness of a national election, there are other factors to consider.
Leader and opposition
Jacinda Ardern has gained international popularity as a decisive and empathetic leader, who is also (compared to other world leaders) a young woman.
Her snowballing global prominence has been attributed to three major disasters during her term: the Christchurch Terror Attack, the White Island volcano blast, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ardern also became the second woman in history to have a baby during a Presidency or Prime Ministership.
That fandom wasn’t just international; her popularity is cemented at home. The most recent has Ardern leading her opponent as preferred prime minister by 50 per cent to 23 per cent.
Professor of Political Science at the University of Wellington, Stephen Levine, told SBS Dateline that Ardern’s leadership is admired by those who would vote for her political opponents.
That has made for a hard task for the main opposition party, the Nationals. They have changed their own leader three times this year in a struggle to find the right person for the job, landing on Judith Collins, who is an experienced and respected politician in her own right.
“You have two candidates in New Zealand who have a lot of positive support for their abilities,” Professor Levine said.
In the US, it’s a very different story. Donald Trump is arguably the United States’ most controversial President and has become both loved and hated across the world for his leadership style. Joe Biden has been positioned as a candidate with one job: beat Donald Trump.
“In the US, you have two people standing for president who have attracted scepticism on both sides,” Professor Levine said.
“A lot of support for Joe Biden, isn’t support for Joe Biden, it’s an anti-Trump vote. Whereas in New Zealand, people are voting for the person they have confidence in.”
Negative politics
When the the US presidential debate and the NZ election debate it brought into stark relief the contrast in tone of the elections.
Professor Levine said he has been observing US and New Zealand elections for decades. He even attended the first presidential debate in 1960 between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
“Those two individuals disagreed on many things but they spoke to each other in an appropriate manner. They would be turning over in their graves if they saw the most recent debate,” he said.
“The tone in the US has deteriorated to such an extent that the vocabulary and discourse and relationship between the candidates is so distasteful that it would be unrecognisable to early elections.”
Mr Levine goes as far as to say that the recent New Zealand debate resembled the debate between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
How the tone of the US election manifested could be a book in itself. What is evident is that for many voters in the US, Professor Levine explains, it is a choice between which candidate they would prefer to keep out.
Partisanship and institutional differences
Robert Patman is a Professor of International Relations at the University of Otago, and says US politics is significantly more partisan than New Zealand.
He uses COVID-19 as an example. There is a “yawning chasm” between Joe Biden and Donald Trump on the issue. While Judith Collins and Jacinda Ardern have different approaches on the economic impact of the virus, they share a similar goal of eradication.
“American society seems deeply polarised,” he said.
“New Zealand politics are much less partisan and uncivil...the degree of rancour and partisanship is lacking in New Zealand compared to the US at present.”
The political institutions of each country is a factor, Professor Patman explains. New Zealand political parties often have to form coalitions to create a majority government.
National leader Judith Collins faces a tough election. Source: Getty Images AsiaPac
The country uses the mixed-member proportional (MMP) system in which voters get two votes: one to decide the representative for their single-seat constituency, and one for a political party.
This can mean that candidates are more likely to be mindful of their words, in case they need to form political alliances after the election, explains Professor Patman.
“It changes the texture of politics...it enables greater diversity, too. It has seen more Maori and women enter politics,” he said.
By contrast, the American election is electing a President and Vice President, one-third of the senate, members of the House of Representatives and state positions. The President is decided by who gets the most electoral college votes, so diplomacy between parties is not as necessary.
