T he government of New Zealand is structured as a parliamentary democracy. Similarly to the US, they rely on the three branches of judiciary, executive, and legislative to run the government and keep each other in check. The judiciary branch is headed by the supreme court and the court of appeals while the legislative branch consists of the elected representatives of the parliament, which is the house of representatives. Unlike the US, the parliament in New Zealand does not have a senate and is therefore unicameral. The executive branch is made up of the head of state, which is actually the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II of New Zealand, and her representative the governor general. The head of state’s role in parliament is simply to open and close a session as well as approving laws (royal assent). Queen Elizabeth simply acts as a figurehead and the governor general is the person who actually attends these meetings. The governor general is also the chief of the armed forces of New Zealand. Apart from these responsibilities, the biggest responsibility of the governor general is to have the leader of the party who wins the majority of the house in election to form the government.
The winning party has the authority to establish the prime minister, the leader of the house as well as the face of the government to the public. The prime minister in turn has the authority to appoint ministers and leaders of the house. The governor general does not really have the authority to do things by themselves and usually act with the assent or advice of the house and its leaders. In this way, it could be said that the majority party controls a considerable amount of power over others. The house of representatives in New Zealand usually consists of 120 members who serve 3 years terms. The parliament is controlled by parties such as: National Party, Green Party, Maori Party, United Future, Act Party, and New Zealand First. Of these, the National Party has an overwhelming majority of 59 member and a long history stretching back to the 1930’s. Although New Zealand once had a legislative council in addition to its house of representatives, it was abolished by 1950. It was only two years after this time that Queen Elizabeth was established as the monarch of New Zealand. From these events we can see that New Zealand has undergone considerable changes from its beginnings to develop its current system of government.
Sources
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/nation-and-government/page-4
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.parliament.nz%2Fen-nz%2Fabout-parliament%2Fhow-parliament-works%2Four-system&ei=9BdJVdrEIdfsoATx2IDQAQ&usg=AFQjCNEXNgPylCt_QgWsGXGzh9Hm_S9baA&sig2=6KZDwdibfxZZX38gc504Lw
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CEoQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.justice.govt.nz%2Fpublications%2Fglobal-publications%2Fn%2Fthe-new-zealand-legal-system&ei=9BdJVdrEIdfsoATx2IDQAQ&usg=AFQjCNFGzKYQ04YkB2UkKoIn78InolpLoQ&sig2=JQ4DUMvXLt3VsPHGX2Osdg
The winning party has the authority to establish the prime minister, the leader of the house as well as the face of the government to the public. The prime minister in turn has the authority to appoint ministers and leaders of the house. The governor general does not really have the authority to do things by themselves and usually act with the assent or advice of the house and its leaders. In this way, it could be said that the majority party controls a considerable amount of power over others. The house of representatives in New Zealand usually consists of 120 members who serve 3 years terms. The parliament is controlled by parties such as: National Party, Green Party, Maori Party, United Future, Act Party, and New Zealand First. Of these, the National Party has an overwhelming majority of 59 member and a long history stretching back to the 1930’s. Although New Zealand once had a legislative council in addition to its house of representatives, it was abolished by 1950. It was only two years after this time that Queen Elizabeth was established as the monarch of New Zealand. From these events we can see that New Zealand has undergone considerable changes from its beginnings to develop its current system of government.
Sources
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/nation-and-government/page-4
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.parliament.nz%2Fen-nz%2Fabout-parliament%2Fhow-parliament-works%2Four-system&ei=9BdJVdrEIdfsoATx2IDQAQ&usg=AFQjCNEXNgPylCt_QgWsGXGzh9Hm_S9baA&sig2=6KZDwdibfxZZX38gc504Lw
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CEoQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.justice.govt.nz%2Fpublications%2Fglobal-publications%2Fn%2Fthe-new-zealand-legal-system&ei=9BdJVdrEIdfsoATx2IDQAQ&usg=AFQjCNFGzKYQ04YkB2UkKoIn78InolpLoQ&sig2=JQ4DUMvXLt3VsPHGX2Osdg