Search

In the 2020 General Election, the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand appeared ideally positioned to capitalise on its association with the Labour-NZ First coalition, led by Jacinda Ardern. Leading up to the election campaign, the Green Party presented itself as a progressive partner for the dominant Labour Party against weak opposition from the National Party. During the campaign, polls suggested that there was a risk the party would not pass the threshold for representation in Parliament, leading to the vigorous targeting of the Auckland City electorate seat. The strategy was successful, as the Green Party slightly increased its representation and won the electorate seat. Securing an agreement with the Labour Party could ensure continued policy influence but does raise concerns about the potential for fragmentation, in view of the party's non-conformist roots and the urgency of the environmental challenges ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors offer observation on the victory of the New Zealand Labour party, headed by Jacinda Ardern. Topics discussed include significance of the Labour's victory, inter-related crises inherited by the Labour party which includes skyrocketing poverty rates and a lack of adequate and affordable housing, and comparison of Ardern's political ambivalence and governing style with former Prime Minister John Key.

We examine the causal effect of legislative activity on private benefits, which have been largely neglected by previous research in legislative studies. By relying on a natural experiment in New Zealand, where randomly selected Members of Parliament (MPs) are given the opportunity to propose legislation, we find evidence for a causal relation between proposing a (successful) bill and the private benefits MPs receive, in terms of gifts and payments for services. We conclude that the allocation of private benefits depends on legislative performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The management of plastic waste is a global problem which currently lacks a global solution. As one of the highest per capita producers of household waste in the developed world, New Zealand has a key role to play in addressing the plastics crisis at multiple levels of governance. This article analyses the various policy options available to the New Zealand government and offers a series of recommendations, including prioritising policy and investment at the top of the waste hierarchy (refuse, rethink, redesign, reduce and reuse); linking plastic waste to toxicological risk and commitments to carbon reduction targets; implementing global commitments domestically; and supporting a proposed international legally binding agreement that captures the full lifecycle of plastics and regulates the transboundary flows of plastic pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Delegates left the Third International Conference on Wellbeing and Public Policy with great expectations following three days of inspirational addresses by some of the world's most prominent thinkers and policymakers. In this article we ask: what is required for a wellbeing approach to public expenditure to be successfully implemented and sustained?. The wellbeing approach arose out of concerns about whether the current suite of measures used by policymakers provides sufficient information on the full range of contributors to or components of the good life. Sometimes divided on what wellbeing is and how to measure it, proponents of the wellbeing approach agree that the ultimate goal of public policy should be to improve wellbeing for all citizens. In order for this wellbeing approach to be successful, we believe it must address three main challenges: measurement, representation and engagement. We must be clear about how wellbeing will be measured, whose wellbeing we will assess, and the extent to which all New Zealanders are represented in the conversations that will determine the first two issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the paid parental leave policy in New Zealand. It considers the various design elements of the policy and, in particular, the payment rate. Although the policy ostensibly provides wage replacement, paid parental leave is subject to a cap of approximately the minimum wage. This creates financial pressure for those previously earning a higher amount and may restrict its use by the higher earner in a two-parent family. The article highlights how the rate of payment compares poorly both internationally and against a local example of support for another temporary absence from employment (ACC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In New Zealand, disabled children are more likely to live in a oneparent household than are non-disabled children. The primary carers of disabled children have a higher unemployment rate than oneparent households in general. As a result, households with disabled children are significantly more likely to experience income poverty. This is not the case in the United Kingdom, where households with disabled children tend not to be at greater risk of income poverty. A key factor in preventing a greater risk of income poverty is the higher disability-related allowances in the United Kingdom: the median payment rate is almost three times higher than the New Zealand equivalents. There is a clear case for increasing the payment rate of the New Zealand disability-related allowances. There is also a clear case for an overhaul of support for households with disabled children to better enable carers/parents to work and to provide more equitable and effective support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws attention to the nature and impact of sexual harm in the New Zealand public service. It examines the scope and substance of official advice and tools available to public managers when responding to incidents of sexual harm, and builds a set of recommendations for central government. Recommendations include a central register of all complaints and reports of sexual harm to the public caused by public service workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on governance strategies for New Zeeland, citing the governance model of Switzerland. It states that Prime Minister Keith Holyoake expressed his astonishment at Switzerland's system of direct democracy, and mentions that federalism and localism were at the heart of Switzerland's successful model. It notes the difference between the nature of the sovereign in New Zealand and Switzerland, and cites role of local government in New Zealand.

The present unwritten constitutions of New Zealand and the United Kingdom controversially recognise their governments, like natural persons, as having the freedom to do all that is not prohibited by positive law. By way of contrast, Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Dr Andrew Butler have recently advocated that New Zealand should adopt a comprehensive entrenched written constitution that confines the authority for government action to that provided by the Constitution and legislation made under it. This article opposes the abolition of the recognition of the government having residual freedom. The article rather advocates that, while retaining residual freedom, the exercise by the government of such freedom should be potentially subject to judicial review on the ground of irrationality where such ground takes into account the extent to which the action furthers the public good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For nearly one hundred years, New Zealand had an appointed upper house in its Parliament, called the Legislative Council. It was abolished by statute in 1950. The search for a substitute took some years, but ended with no proposal succeeding. This article reviews the history of the Legislative Council and revisits the reports done in attempts to revive a second chamber and the constitutional agitation that accompanied those efforts. It analyses the weaknesses of the Legislative Council and why reform proposals failed. It examines more recent efforts to reintroduce a second chamber, including the Bill for an elected Senate that was introduced into Parliament, alongside the measures to implement the Mixed Member Proportional election system in 1993. The Senate provisions were excised by the Select Committee considering the Bill. Efforts still continue to revive the idea of a second chamber, but the article concludes they are doomed to failure in New Zealand's particular political culture. It suggests that the salient function of a second chamber as a revising chamber for legislation should be achieved by improving the scrutiny of legislation in the House of Representatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review essay engages with Jodi Dean's Crowds and Party. First, Dean's contribution to a reboot of the communist project, via the resurrection of the party, will be surveyed. Second, after situating Dean in relation to others working in this field, it is argued her work could be extended through considerations of class, social movements, identity politics, spatial dynamics, and a more constructive dialogue with anarchism. Finally, it is argued Dean's work is timely in prompting discussions toward the formation of a party in Aotearoa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This brief overview of New Zealand Left Sociological thought focuses on major currents of debate and agreement since the 1970s. Particular emphasis is placed on comparing social democratic and Marxist currents in New Zealand against the back drop of European debates. The paper finds that Left perspectives in New Zealand have only changed subtly in the shift from Keynesian to neoliberal times, and both still are characterised by similar and differing limitations. The concluding discussion focuses on the need for a mid-range trans-national project that could draw together Marxists and social democrats in a practical project of progressive social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of empirical social research projects tends to be downplayed in histories of National Sociologies and indeed sociology more generally. The history of New Zealand social research began with the iconic 'Littledene' study and then showed broadly similar patterns over time with Sociology departments hosting somewhat empiricist community surveys, often at least in part as student exercises, in their earlier years with this tradition largely abandoned after the 1980s although continuing in some policy research circles. Community-orientated research has been largely replaced by small-scale ethnographic studies applied across a very wide range. There is, too, a more statistical tradition that has continued in New Zealand sociology. The topics and research methods used in empirical social research have been partially shaped over time by organisational arrangements, societal and government research agenda, funding opportunities, ethical constraints and trends in fashionable methodologies so some of these effects are pointed to. Although there have been connections with the empirical sociologies of the world metropolitan core, New Zealand empirical social research has largely remained local and has seldom affected policy-makers the general public, or the broader sociological community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural sociology in New Zealand has been associated with some of New Zealand's most famous early social analysis: Somerset's Littledene and Doig's survey of dairy farmers. These exemplify its uncertain and changing relationship with government policy and funding. Over the years rural sociology has been funded from a variety of sources, sometimes unexpected, sometimes generously. Its peak moments have been related to both important developments in rural life, such as the 1930s Depression, or the reconfiguration of farming that took place after the restructuring instigated by the Fourth labour Government in the 1980s. Linkages with both overseas sociologists and those within other disciplines with common agendas are crucial to sociological analysis of rural trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local government policymakers across the developed world have frequently employed municipal amalgamation to improve the operation of local councils, and New Zealand is no exception. This paper empirically examines claims made in Potential Costs and Savings of Local Government Reform in Hawke’s Bay that the merger of the five local authorities in the Hawke’s Bay Region of New Zealand would generate significant cost-savings. We empirically test for the existence of scale economies in a single merged Hawke’s Bay council and find that no cost-savings can be expected. This removes a key argument for a forced Hawke’s Bay amalgamation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores some of the implications that arise from New Zealand’s Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill, (OCACL) which was passed into law on 5 November 2015 and comes into effect on 1 January 2016. As an Omnibus Bill, the OCACL makes amendments to twelve different Acts; chief among these are legislative changes pertaining to bribery and corruption. Despite New Zealand’s long-standing reputation for good governance it was one of the very few signatories that had still to ratify the United Nations Conventions Against Corruption (UNCAC). This article identifies a number of potential areas that potentially still do not meet UNCAC requirements, which begs questions not only of the Bill but of the utility of UNCAC itself. Furthermore the article explores a new offence of Trading in Influence, which we suggest has potentially far reaching consequences, in theory at least. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the author's insights regarding the comparison between the leadership of former New Zealand Prime Minister David Lange and British Labour Party and Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn. Topics include the appeal of both leaders who were attractive to baby boomers and Internet generation, the challenges faced by the export market of New Zealand, and the resentment of New Zealanders to nuclear testing.

An introduction is presented in which the editors discuss various reports within the issue on topics including the journal's new website, the political condition of New Zealand under Prime Minister John Key's leadership and the migration of Black African women in New Zealand.

The article profiles Norman Kirk, the Labour Party prime minister-elect of New Zealand in 1973. Information on Kirk's credentials as anti-apartheid activist in the 1960s, diplomatic vision and his experience of participating in debates over New Zealand's link with apartheid South Africa in 1972 is offered. The role of Frank Corner, secretary of foreign affairs, and his assistant, Malcolm Templeton, in resolving the controversy over the New Zealand-South Africa rugby football match is discussed.

The New Zealand Cabinet Manual is regarded as an authoritative guide to the conduct of the executive in that country, and it is now a public document accessible online. A similar Manual has been adopted in the UK, but these documents raise questions about the consequences of creating an authoritative written version of constitutional convention. For instance, could a Cabinet Manual prevent constitutional change or lead to biased understandings of conventions? Could the content of a Cabinet Manual have a decisive effect on judicial review? The present article examines the experience surrounding the New Zealand Cabinet Manual in order to address some of the critical questions that parliamentarians and academics have raised about the possible effects of such documents upon constitutional conventions. While the New Zealand Cabinet Manual is supposed not to affect constitutional convention, it has nonetheless helped to shape it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feminist political science scholarship has burgeoned internationally since the 1980s, evidenced by the volume and diversity of work published in both disciplinary and interdisciplinary journals, editions and book series. In New Zealand we have witnessed a plethora of feminist analyses that have focused on some element of the 'political'. However, feminist engagement with 'mainstream' New Zealand politics has been more limited, while traditional New Zealand political science has tended to view 'official' politics within and between states as gender neutral. This article explores this historically tense relationship and what it has meant for the development of New Zealand feminist political science. I identify four strands of feminist scholarship in New Zealand politics that have emerged in recent years. However, I suggest that despite increases in this scholarship, in the number of women hired, and in the work undertaken by the women in New Zealand's political science professional association to address the concerns of women in the discipline, these contributions have remained on the margins of New Zealand political science. Reasons for this marginal status may include the relatively small size of the field, and that there are few senior feminists in the field of New Zealand politics. But it may also be that New Zealand feminist political scientists are more comfortable engaging with the gender politics community internationally. I conclude with a brief discussion of what this might mean for the future of feminist political science and New Zealand politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Updates on the parliamentary governments of member countries of the international organization Commonwealth including Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Great Britain for 2015 are presented. Topics include the 19th amendment passed in the parliament of Sri Lanka, the government budget for 2015 and retirement of long servicing Clerk of the House in New Zealand, and new elected members at the parliament of Great Britain and the country's budget for 2015.

Accountability of representatives to electors is a key indicator of democratic health. In mixed-member systems, the coexistence of two kinds of representation provides the opportunity to test competing claims with minimal confounding factors. There is debate about the relative accountability of constituency and list MPs, and in particular, concerning dual candidacy, where individuals can stand for both constituency and list seats. Analysing New Zealand elections since 1999, with comparisons back to the previous single-member plurality system, this article examines the effects of dual candidacy, legislative turnover and the cases where constituency or electorate MPs have lost their seats, but remained in Parliament as list members. 代表对选民负责乃民主是否健康的一个关键指标。在混合成员制下，两类代表的共存为比较单纯地检验其竞争的主张提供了机会。不过，选区及名单议员的相对责任，尤其在一个个体可以既代表选区又代表名单席位的情况下的责任，对此是有争议的。本文分析了新西兰1999年以来的选举，并与之前的单一成员多数选举制做了对比，还考察了双重候选人制的效果、议员的流动、以及选区或议员落选但依然是国会名单成员的情况。 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the implications of decentralization of government in New Zealand, based on the World Bank's diagnostic framework for analyzing decentralization. Topics discussed include the elements of decentralization which include political, administrative and fiscal decentralization, the benefits of decentralization, and the public and social accountability of the local government under decentralization.

For the third time since the new millennium, New Zealand is undertaking a significant investigation into its constitutional arrangements. The latest development was the release in December 2013 of the final report of the Constitutional Advisory Panel established by the New Zealand government to consider constitutional issues. Among the report’s recommendations is the invitation for all of us to ‘continue the conversation about our constitutional arrangements’. This article seeks to contribute to that conversation by drawing a link between our beliefs about the authority of government – its right to rule – and the shape and manner in which our government is constituted. It is contended that this provides some much-needed context, revealing why the conversation is important and offering an opportunity to set some direction for continued dialogue in terms of exploring our beliefs about governmental authority and how those beliefs are or should be embodied in constitutional detail. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]