Constitutional Change
Ian Wards (ed) Thirteen Facets: Essays to Celebrate the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth the Second 1952-1977 (Government Printer, Wellington, 1978) 36
37 Pages Posted: 18 Oct 2013
Date Written: 1978
Abstract
The purpose of this essay is to sketch the developments over the past twenty-five years in New Zealand’s constitution and international relations. Its major concern is with the proper organisation and control of rapidly growing public power. It also highlights the relationship between international relations and domestic constitutional arrangements; the general reluctance in New Zealand to foster explicit, major constitutional change; and, in contrast, the occasional willingness to make significant constitutional innovations.
After briefly outlining the major changes in the world in which New Zealanders live, this article notes the growth of the power of Parliament (principally through the stripping away of the last vestiges of imperial controls), documents the growing international restraints on that power and gives some indication of the growth of the executive power of government. It concludes by reviewing the forms of participation in the exercise of those powers and several of the other protections against the abuse of public power.
Keywords: New Zealand constitution, constitutional change, constitutional monarchy, New Zealand independence, exercise of public power, restraints on public power, New Zealand international relations
JEL Classification: K10, K19
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation