Jasmine Directory

New Zealand’s government is known as a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. The ultimate head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, represented as in the case of Australia by a Governor General. The Governor General exercises the monarchal powers in the country, under the limitations provided by the constitution.

The constitution is not codified, meaning that there’s no text known as a constitution – much of what’s considered the ultimate law here is based on customs, traditions and precedents. The Governor General is appointed by the Queen with consideration given by the Prime Minister.

The Governor General can and has to appoint ministers at the advice and counsel of the Prime Minister. The country has a Supreme Court of New Zealand which acts as an important part of the judiciary branch. Judges are appointed non-politically so that their rulings won’t be influenced by political agendas and so they can enforce the constitutional law. New Zealand is considered the number one country in the world in terms of government transparency and lack of corruption.

Being considered also one of the best democratic institutions, New Zealand’s government and institutions are among the world’s best managed and well-governed. Almost 80% of the people present themselves to voting booths and almost 70% of its citizens say they trust the government.

The OECD average is situated at about 56%, meaning that citizens are in very good terms with their government. After Iceland and Denmark, New Zealand is considered one of the most peaceful countries in the world, according to the Global Peace Index.

It’s lowest rank was in 2008 when it situated itself on the 4th place, probably due to its participation in the Iraq War where it sent army engineers to rebuild Iraqi infrastructure.