PROBLEMS OF DEMOCRACY IN A MAJORITARIAN SYSTEM: NEW ZEALAND AND EMANCIPATION FROM THE WESTMINSTER MODEL?

In: The round table: the Commonwealth journal of international affairs, Band 328, S. 401-418

Abstract

NEW ZEALAND, A FORMER SETTLER COLONY, PRIVIDES US WITH A LONG-ESTABLISHED EXAMPLE OF TRANSFERENCE OF THE WESTMINISTER MODEL, IN ALMOST IDEAL CONDITIONS WHICH SERVES TO ILLUSTRATE BOTH THE STRENGTHS AND THE WEAKNESSES OF THE SYSTEM. THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES NEW ZEALAND'S POLITICAL PARTIES, RACE ISSUES, MAORI SEATS, MAJORITARIANISM, AND REFERENDA. IT SUGGESTS THAT THE POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ZEALAND FROM COLONY TO INDEPENDENT STATE SHOULD BE CATEGORIZED INTO THREE PHASES--TRANSFORMATION, CONSOLIDATION AND ADAPTATION.