Enjoyed your article very much! Thank you for allowing us to share share in your ideas. This is a very worrying political year in my view. I very much fear for the health of democracy in New Zealand. So great to hear your progress in research for your thesis.
Thanks, Judith! I really appreciate that. It is very messy, but I trust the strength of our institutions to withstand whatever this government wants to do. It's important to remember that because we have MMP and we vote for parties rather than individuals, which is different from the USA, it is much harder for political parties to interfere with the integrity of our institutions. And it's the institutions that define our democracy, not the political parties alone. So, I think we will be okay—stressed, but ultimately okay. 😊
“In New Zealand, our institutions are both a source of stability and a barrier to progress. Their rigidity ensures consistency and resilience, but it also makes reform difficult when change is needed.”
Institutions are important. I’m absolutely with you on that. I’m not sure that our institutions are overly rigid though.
At the level of the voting system, maybe the biggest of the big, we had the solid and popular change to MMP following referenda in ‘92 and ‘93. This had road shows up and down the country barracking for different versions. Single Transferable Votes anyone? And then there was the follow-up Electoral System referendum in 2011.
Our Health system is under the same type of perpetual reform as our potholes. I wish I had bought shares in an orange cone company a decade ago.
Education is never still. The squabbles around setting up NCEA were not insignificant. These decades later it is still not obvious that this was the way to go.
Recently there was the referendum on End of Life.
There is a lot more that happened over the last 60 years (Manapouri, abortion, Maruia, the Springbok Tour, Vietnam, Child Discipline, Term of Parliament -which failed, Compulsory Military Training, Compulsory Retirement Savings, Cannabis, the flag - go Laser Kiwi! … and so on.) These were done out there in public, with people yelling, and with essentially no violence. I think it would be hard to make the case that our New Zealand system is unhelpfully rigid.
But where the system has proven rigid, and I believe helpfully so, is resisting the internationally popular identitarian and DEI movement (now apparently in decline). This is dear to the hearts of a sub-portion of that minority of us to whom we delegate decision-making authority. This includes politicians, the judiciary and the civil service, also the fourth estate and academia. Why these people went off the reservation, trying to take our polity with them, beats me. It was out of line, though, for them to use the power that we delegate to them on trust, to attempt to implement their own pet policies. It was and is an attempt at constitutional change, without referenda. That is just not how we do things here, hence the resistance.
There is a right way to bring about constitutional reform here in New Zealand. We know how to do this. We have done it before. It would not be our first rodeo. If you want change, then you have to get out there and sell your ideas to us.
Thanks, John! I appreciate your thoughtful response. I'm happy we agree that our institutions play a crucial role in maintaining stability. While they may seem rigid at times, they have shown flexibility when needed, as you pointed out with the changes to MMP and various referenda.
However, the nature of institutions, even with all the reforms and restructures, means their legacy and path dependency often ensure that they largely operate in the same way. I've been knee-deep in Historical Institutionalism and Rational Choice Institutionalism, and I believe that despite the relentless reforms and restructures, there are elements that remain chronically rigid.
Engaging the public and fostering open dialogue is crucial to ensuring any proposed changes reflect the collective will and values of our society.
Enjoyed your article very much! Thank you for allowing us to share share in your ideas. This is a very worrying political year in my view. I very much fear for the health of democracy in New Zealand. So great to hear your progress in research for your thesis.
Thanks, Judith! I really appreciate that. It is very messy, but I trust the strength of our institutions to withstand whatever this government wants to do. It's important to remember that because we have MMP and we vote for parties rather than individuals, which is different from the USA, it is much harder for political parties to interfere with the integrity of our institutions. And it's the institutions that define our democracy, not the political parties alone. So, I think we will be okay—stressed, but ultimately okay. 😊
“In New Zealand, our institutions are both a source of stability and a barrier to progress. Their rigidity ensures consistency and resilience, but it also makes reform difficult when change is needed.”
Institutions are important. I’m absolutely with you on that. I’m not sure that our institutions are overly rigid though.
At the level of the voting system, maybe the biggest of the big, we had the solid and popular change to MMP following referenda in ‘92 and ‘93. This had road shows up and down the country barracking for different versions. Single Transferable Votes anyone? And then there was the follow-up Electoral System referendum in 2011.
Our Health system is under the same type of perpetual reform as our potholes. I wish I had bought shares in an orange cone company a decade ago.
Education is never still. The squabbles around setting up NCEA were not insignificant. These decades later it is still not obvious that this was the way to go.
Recently there was the referendum on End of Life.
There is a lot more that happened over the last 60 years (Manapouri, abortion, Maruia, the Springbok Tour, Vietnam, Child Discipline, Term of Parliament -which failed, Compulsory Military Training, Compulsory Retirement Savings, Cannabis, the flag - go Laser Kiwi! … and so on.) These were done out there in public, with people yelling, and with essentially no violence. I think it would be hard to make the case that our New Zealand system is unhelpfully rigid.
But where the system has proven rigid, and I believe helpfully so, is resisting the internationally popular identitarian and DEI movement (now apparently in decline). This is dear to the hearts of a sub-portion of that minority of us to whom we delegate decision-making authority. This includes politicians, the judiciary and the civil service, also the fourth estate and academia. Why these people went off the reservation, trying to take our polity with them, beats me. It was out of line, though, for them to use the power that we delegate to them on trust, to attempt to implement their own pet policies. It was and is an attempt at constitutional change, without referenda. That is just not how we do things here, hence the resistance.
There is a right way to bring about constitutional reform here in New Zealand. We know how to do this. We have done it before. It would not be our first rodeo. If you want change, then you have to get out there and sell your ideas to us.
Thanks, John! I appreciate your thoughtful response. I'm happy we agree that our institutions play a crucial role in maintaining stability. While they may seem rigid at times, they have shown flexibility when needed, as you pointed out with the changes to MMP and various referenda.
However, the nature of institutions, even with all the reforms and restructures, means their legacy and path dependency often ensure that they largely operate in the same way. I've been knee-deep in Historical Institutionalism and Rational Choice Institutionalism, and I believe that despite the relentless reforms and restructures, there are elements that remain chronically rigid.
Engaging the public and fostering open dialogue is crucial to ensuring any proposed changes reflect the collective will and values of our society.