You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Beyond Biculturalism: The Politics of an Indigenous Minority is a critical analysis of contemporary Maori public policy. O'Sullivan argues that biculturalism inevitably makes Maori the junior partner in a colonial relationship that obstructs aspirations to self-determination. The political situation of Maori is compared to that of First Nations and Aboriginal Australians. The book examines contemporary Maori political issues such as the 'one law for all' ideology, the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004, Maori parliamentary representation, Treaty settlements, and Maori economic development.
New Zealand was the last major landmass, other than Antarctica, to be settled by humans. The story of this rugged and dynamic land is beautifully narrated, from its origins in Gondwana some 80 million years ago to the twenty-first century. Philippa Mein Smith highlights the effects of the country's smallness and isolation, from its late settlement by Polynesian voyagers and colonisation by Europeans - and the exchanges that made these people Maori and Pakeha - to the dramatic struggles over land and recent efforts to manage global forces. A Concise History of New Zealand places New Zealand in its global and regional context. It unravels key moments - the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the Anzac landing at Gallipoli, the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior - showing their role as nation-building myths and connecting them with the less dramatic forces, economic and social, that have shaped contemporary New Zealand.
The Crown is the bedrock of Westminster-style democracies, yet its meanings, powers and effects are opaque and little understood.
New Zealand is at a watershed in its constitutional and political arrangements. There are three events looming in the short term which suggest that the status of Māori in Parliament is in for significant challenge. The first is the impending review of constitutional issues and the Māori seats as part of the National Party–Māori Party ‘Relationship and Confidence and Supply Agreement’. Secondly, the proposed referendum on the future of the mixed member proportional system (MMP) could also have significant implications for Māori. Finally, the longer term question of whether New Zealand should become a republic continues to haunt New Zealand’s political imagination, and would also n...
This book examines the influence of constitutional legal paradigms upon the political stability and viability of states. It contributes to the literature in the field by focussing on how constitutional flexibility may have led to the rise of 'successful' states and to the decline of 'unsuccessful' states, by promoting stability. Divided into two parts, the book considers theories of the rise and fall of civilizations and individual states, explains the concept of hard and soft constitutions and applies this concept to different types of state models. A series of international case studies in the second part of the book identifies the key dynamics in legal, political and economic history and includes the UK, US, New Zealand and Eastern Europe.
"These are the fifteen burning questions asked and answered in this ..... new book. At times playful, and at other times serious, this book is an exercise in disciplined creativity, as leading historians and political scientists re-examine key events and decisions in New Zealand's history, sensitive to possibilities that were plausible at the time, circumstances that with only a modest degree of adjustment could well have taken an entirely different turn.."-- Back cover.
The ‘spectre of populism’ might be an apt description for what is happening in different parts of the world, but does it apply to New Zealand? Immediately after New Zealand’s 2017 general election, populist party New Zealand First gained a pivotal role in a coalition with the Labour Party, leading some international observers to suggest it represented a populist capture of the government. The leader of New Zealand First, Winston Peters, justified his support for Labour as necessary to allow capitalism to ‘regain … its human face’. The new prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, spoke of a kinder, inclusive politics. This book draws on the 2017 New Zealand Election Study to uncover New Ze...
"The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 by over 500 chiefs, and by William Hobson, representing the British Crown. To the British it was the means by which they gained sovereignty over New Zealand. But to Maori people it had a very different significance, and they are still affected by the terms of the Treaty, often adversely.The Treaty of Waitangi, the first comprehensive study of the Treaty, deals with its place in New Zealand history from its making to the present day. The story covers the several Treaty signings and the substantial differences between Maori and English texts; the debate over interpretation of land rights and the actions of settler governments determined to circumvent Treaty guarantees; the wars of sovereignty in the 1860s and the longstanding Maori struggle to secure a degree of autonomy and control over resources." --Publisher.
Prudence, Pragmatism and Principle examines New Zealand's approach to national security by taking the country's own definition of security and examining each of the components within that definition to determine what the country has or has not done to achieve security.The book highlights the centralised all-of-government approach to achieving security policy and its more distributed and focused approach to responding to national security issues. It also evaluates the degree to which the country chooses to follow a path of prudence, pragmatism or principle in achieving its security. The emphasis on each of those is different according to the issue.The author first presents the development of ...
New Zealand was one of a handful of countries that held a national election in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Its policy response stood out as remarkably successful. Indeed, several years on from the onset of the crisis, in 2023 New Zealand still retained a record of no excess deaths. While New Zealanders were voting on October 17, 2020, their country had only recorded 25 confirmed deaths out of a population of five million. Then, support for the government’s crisis management was at its height. Labour, the leading party in the incumbent coalition government, secured a historic election victory. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had taken up the metaphor of the New Zealand people as ‘a ...