The Hou of Reprentatives
The Hou
伊朗门事件
New Zealand's Parliament dates back to 1854, just 14 years after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the beginning of the European ttlement of the country. For most of its history as a nation state, New Zealand has had some form of elected government.
Throughout this time the country's Parliament has made laws, scrutinid the government and reprented New Zealanders. Few countries in the world can boast such a long and uninterrupted history of democracy.
Quick history - Hou of Reprentatives
Parliament has two parts. One is the head of state 国家元首, Queen Elizabeth II, who is reprented in Parliament by the Governor-General 搓火总督.
The other part is the Hou of Reprentatives 众议院. This compris Members of Parliam
ent (MPs) who are elected by people aged 18 and over. Elections are held every three years, and New Zealand has a mixed member proportional (MMP) electoral system.
A political party or parties with the support of the majority of votes in the Hou form a government that administers the country. The government answers to Parliament for its policies and actions, which are debated in the Hou and examined in lect committees.
Origins 鸡丁的做法
The ttlers who came to New Zealand after 1840 brought with them the British parliamentary tradition, known as the Westminster system. This included regular elections, politicians reprenting local constituencies 选民, a Speaker, rules of procedure 议事规则and a prime minister wielding power through a Cabinet (the executive). Political parties competed for power, attained by a simple majority in the Hou.
Setting up Parliament
Between 1840 and 1854, a governor (reprenting the Queen) ruled New Zealand, but ttlers wanted an elected or reprentative government. The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 provided this, with a General Asmbly 岁月无恒会员大会that comprid the governor, an elected Hou of Reprentatives and a Legislative Council 议会上院who members were nominated by the governor. Six provincial legislatures were subordinate to the General Asmbly. Elections were held in 1853, and the first General Asmbly met in Auckland in 1854. Only men, Pakeha and Maori, aged 21 and over who owned property or occupied a hou of a certain value were entitled to vote (from 1879, the property qualification was dropped). Maori men could vote for their own four Maori MPs from 1868. Adult women, Maori and Pakeha, could vote from 1893. Granting the vote to women was a landmark, and New Zealand was the first country in the world to do this, making it the world's first true democracy.
Settlers also wanted responsible government – a government formed from a majority in the Hou. This came about in 1856, and Edward Stafford led the first stable, responsible ministry. Parliament moved to Wellington in 1865, where it has remained. The provinces c鸟古诗
决心书300字ontinued to exist until 1876, while the governor and Legislative Council increasingly lost power through the 19th century.
Parties
MPs initially formed factions 小派别bad on regional or personal interests. Political parties appeared in the 1890s, with the Liberals. By 1916 two other parties had emerged – Reform (1909) and Labour (1916); from the mid-1930s, there were just two – Labour and National.
Formal parties altered things. Sessions became longer, and government dominated the business of the Hou. Changes to the way the Hou worked meant that government legislation was virtually guaranteed to pass, and the executive dominated Parliament.
Parliamentary reform
Today's Parliament is still bad on the Westminster system, but there have been key changes, especially since the 1950s. The Legislative Council was abolished in 1951, and
rules about the way Parliament worked were amended. The Speaker became more powerful from the 1980s, and there were changes to the rvicing of Parliament. Sessions began early in the year, and lect committees were reorganid.
From the 1980s New Zealanders demanded changes to the electoral system, and this came in the 1996 election that was run on the MMP system. This brought 120 MPs and more parties into the Hou, and the style of politics and Parliament itlf changed again.
Parliament - Hou of Reprentatives
The structure of Parliament
Today there are two parts to Parliament – the Hou of Reprentatives (or the Lower Hou) and the Governor-General, but between 1854 and 1951 there was a third part, the Legislative Council (or the Upper Hou).
Legislative Council
The Legislative Council was made up of members who were appointed rather than elected. Its major role was to amend or revi the legislation pasd in the Hou of Reprentatives.
The council was meant to be New Zealand's equivalent of the British Hou of Lords and play an independent and influential role. This did not happen, and the council never had too much to do. Once governments could appoint its members – a role they soon took from the governor, although he still approved the nominees – the council's independence weakened, especially when governments stacked it to suit their own purpos.
Every now and again council members bucked against 六朝反对the government. The big showdown 摊牌came in 1891 when the council obstructed the policies of the Liberal government. Trying to stack the council backfired when the governor refud to approve the nominees; Britain finally ordered him to co-operate. From then on, there would be no chance of an independent council, but it gave governments an attractive way of rewarding loyal Members of Parliament (MPs).
