New Zealand is a sovereign state with a democratic parliamentary government based on the Westminster system. Its constitutional history dates back to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, when the indigenous Maori people ceded sovereignty over New Zealand to the British Queen. The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 provided for the establishment of a Parliament with an elected House of Representatives. Universal suffrage was introduced in 1893. Like Canada and Australia, New Zealand has the British monarch as titular Head of State. The Queen is represented in New Zealand by the Governor-General, appointed by her on the advice of the New Zealand Government.

As in the United Kingdom, constitutional practice in New Zealand is an accumulation of convention, precedent and tradition, and there is no single document that can be termed the New Zealand constitution. The Constitution Act 1986 has, however, updated, clarified and brought together in one piece of legislation the most important constitutional provisions that had been enacted in various statutes. It provides for a legislative body, an executive and administrative structure and specific protection for the judiciary.

Legislative power is vested in Parliament, a unicameral body designated the House of Representatives. It currently has 122 members, who are elected for three-year terms through general elections at which all citizens and permanent residents over 18 years of age are entitled to vote. Authority for raising revenue by taxation and for expenditure of public money must be granted by Parliament. Parliament also controls the government by its power to pass a resolution of no confidence or to reject a government proposal made a matter of confidence, in which event the government would be expected to resign.

The executive government of New Zealand is carried out by the Executive Council. This is a formal body made up of the Cabinet and the Governor-General, who acts on the Cabinet's advice. The Cabinet itself consists of the Prime Minister and his/her Ministers, who must be chosen from among elected Members of Parliament. Each Minister supervises and is responsible for particular areas of government administration. Collectively, the Cabinet is responsible for all decisions of the government.

As a result of a referendum held in conjunction with the 1993 election, New Zealand changed from a "First Past the Post" (FPP) system of electing Members of Parliament to a "Mixed Member Proportional" (MMP) system of proportional representation. MMP is similar to the German Federal system of election to the Lower House. Under MMP, the total number of seats each party has in Parliament is proportional to that party's share of the total list vote. Around half of all Members of Parliament are elected directly as electorate representatives as under the FPP system. The remaining members are chosen by the parties from party lists. This change was put in place for the 1996 election. The government has announced that a referendum on the future of MMP will be held in conjunction with the 2011 election.

 

The Maori Party was formed in 2004, led by a former Labour Party MP. Following a by-election, the Maori Party had one seat in Parliament and the Labour Party 51. The Maori Party won four electorate seats at the next general election in September 2005, one more than it was entitled to according to its share of party votes, thereby creating an "overhang" of one seat. In 2008, the Maori Party won five electorate seats, creating an overhang of two seats in Parliament.

Following the general election in November 2008. The National Party formed a minority Government with support agreements with ACT, United Future and the Maori Party. The Honourable John Key, the Leader of the National Party, is Prime Minister and the Honourable Bill English, Deputy Leader of National, is Deputy Prime Minister.

The judicial system in New Zealand is based on the British model. By convention and the Constitution Act 1986, the judiciary is independent from the executive.
Social Framework

New Zealand has a high degree of social and political stability and a modern social welfare system which includes universal entitlement to primary and secondary education, subsidised access to health services for all residents, income support for low and middle income families, and a range of benefits and pensions. The population is mainly European, with around 80% of residents designating themselves as being of European descent, 14.6% as New Zealand Maori, 6.9% as Pacific Islanders, 9.2% as Asian and 0.9% as other. (Note: Census respondents are able to give multiple responses to ethnicity questions, hence the number of responses is greater than the total population). There is a high incidence of intermarriage among these groups. The majority of Europeans are of British descent, while the New Zealand Maori are of the same ethnic origin as the indigenous populations of Tahiti, Hawaii and several other Pacific Islands.

The Treaty of Waitangi

The Treaty of Waitangi is regarded as a founding document of New Zealand. First signed at Waitangi on 6 February 1840, the Treaty is an agreement between Maori and the British Crown and affirms for Maori their status as the indigenous people of New Zealand.

The Treaty comprises three articles. The first grants to the Queen of England the right to "govern" New Zealand while the second article guarantees Maori possession of their lands, forests, fisheries and other resources. The third and final article gives Maori all the citizenship rights of British subjects. There are outstanding claims by Maori that the Crown has breached the Treaty, particularly the guarantees under the second article. Since 1992, the government has developed processes and polices to enable the Crown and Maori to settle any Treaty of Waitangi claim relating to events before September 1992.