Political Science

Asia has experienced dramatic changes over the last six decades. It has transitioned from war to peace, from conflict to cooperation, and from economic stagnation and impoverishment to dynamic growth and prosperity. Concurrently regional order in Asia has evolved from a purely instrumental order to one with important normative-contractual features. This article identifies key changes in Asia and explores the following questions: What explains war and peace in post-1945 Asia? Will a changing Asia become more war prone or will peace continue? What explains the type of cooperation and order in Asia and how these have evolved? The main argument is that contestations, advances, and setbacks in making states and nations along with changes in state capacity have been the primary drivers of war, peace, cooperation, and order in post-1945 Asia. As state-making and forging legitimate nations are still unsettled projects in many Asian countries, including key ones like China and India, they will continue to be key drivers of domestic and international politics in the foreseeable future. Along with the emphasis on economic development and growing economic interdependence, state and nation making dynamics will modify and complicate the dynamics presumed to emanate from the rise of Asian countries.

Historically, few Māori have been elected to local government. In the last 10 years the Crown has created two opportunities for local government to increase the number of Māori elected: the Local Electoral Act 2001 allows a local government to change its electoral system from the first-past-the-post (FPP) to the single transferable voting (STV) system; and the Local Electoral Amendment Act 2002 allows a local government to create local Māori wards and Māori constituencies (replicating the model of Māori representation in the House of Representatives). Very few local governments have implemented either option. A small (and declining) number of councils have changed to STV. A few councils have polled their electors on the matter of establishing Māori wards, but each poll rejected them. In 2010 the Crown renewed its commitment to the ‘option’ of local electoral reform in establishing the new Auckland City Council. The Crown rejected a Royal Commission recommendation to guarantee Māori representation in the reconstituted council, preferring to allow the council and Auckland voters to engage in electoral reform if they wish to do so. Following the 2010 local government elections, Māori are still chronically under-represented amongst elected councillors. This article argues that the Crown is failing in its duty of active protection of Māori in laws relating to Māori representation in local government. Drawing on Kymlicka’s arguments about group representation, the article argues that the Crown has dual obligations to Māori in relation to local representation. It must recognize Māori as a community of interest in local electoral boundaries and it also must increase the number of Māori elected to local government. Both obligations can be met through the mandatory creation of Māori wards in all local government. This article also defends guaranteed local Māori representation against some common objections.

How and how well do different parties manage similar environmental changes? How do organizations shape parties’ adaptation to change? In 1996 New Zealand replaced its Single Member Plurality (SMP) electoral system with a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system. MMP added an overriding proportional tier to national elections and compelled the major incumbent parties, Labour and National, to undertake new tasks: the creation of national lists of candidates and the construction of nationwide campaigns for the ‘party vote’. This paper compares how Labour and National organized candidate selection in response to MMP. It demonstrates how and why Labour possessed organizational capacities to meet these challenges that National lacked before the advent of MMP and for several years after it.

International policing is a phenomenon on the rise. Encompassing a range of activities such as transnational police liaison, response to disasters and post-conflict peace-building, such seemingly technical practices can have significant political implications. A consideration of New Zealand’s recent experiences provides an opportunity to examine some of the sites of promise and difficulty at play in the practice of international policing. Focusing on how international policing activities contribute to New Zealand’s national foreign policy objectives, this article also provides a useful lens through which to consider some of the broader sites of contention in this field.