Politics of New Zealand
New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government similar to that of Britain. Head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, but the actual government is formed by the Prime Minister of New Zealand as head of government and his cabinet, whose members are selected from an elected parliament.
Constitution
New Zealand has no single written constitution work; the constitutional framework form various official documents ( including certain laws of Great Britain and the New Zealand Parliament ) as well as constitutional arrangements. Most of these restorations were combined in the Constitution Act 1986. There have been several times Proposals to introduce a formal constitution, but so far no serious efforts to do so.
Monarchy
New Zealand's head of state is the Queen of New Zealand, at the time Elizabeth II The New Zealand monarchy is of the British monarchy different, as the queen since the New Zealand Royal Titles Act (1953 ) official state business under the title of the Queen of New Zealand and not as Queen leads from the UK. In practice, the tasks of the monarchy will be taken over by a Governor General, who is appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Since 2011 Rt Hon Sir clothed Lt. Gen. Jerry Mate Para, the Office of the Governor General.
From time to time there have been proposals to abolish the monarchy and instead transform New Zealand into a republic. In contrast to the neighboring country of Australia in New Zealand there was as yet no referendum on this question, but some important politicians believe the establishment of a republic is inevitable.
Executive
The Cabinet, which must answer before Parliament exercises the executive power. ( The Cabinet is the practical replacement for the formal executive Council). The Prime Minister is the leader of the majority party forming ( en ) Chairman of the Cabinet. All cabinet ministers must be members of Parliament and are accountable to Parliament.
Legislature
The New Zealand Parliament has only one chamber, the House of Representatives (about: House of Representatives ), with 120 members. Since 1996, a combination of personality and proportional representation applies, such as the German Bundestag. Here, each deputy is elected either in a constituency directly or through a party list indirectly ( by voting for the party). Some seats are reserved specifically for Māori MPs. At the same time Māori but can also decide to vote on the normal seats or to stand for this. Also in this way some Māori representatives have already moved into the Parliament. The Parliament is usually elected every three years, but may be reelected earlier. Choice open to all New Zealanders are over 18 years. Women's suffrage was introduced in 1893.
Judiciary
The New Zealand judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, District Courts, and several other, smaller dishes. Some judges may preside over more of these dishes.
The New Zealand law has three basic sources lying: the English Common Law (eg: ordinary law), certain statutes of the British Parliament before 1947 ( including the Bill of Rights ), and bylaws of the New Zealand Parliament.
Local Government
New Zealand is organized unitary rather than federal. The regions have more produced by the authority of the central government than the Central Government through the regions.
New Zealand as a republic
Since 1994, the Republican Movement of Aotearoa New Zealand is a serious movement and political initiative that the government wants to move in a referendum to transform New Zealand into a republic.