Analyze the democratic political institutions of New Zealand. Identify
the institutions and characteristics of its democracy. Fully describe the country’s democratic system. At bare minimum, you will identify its government type,
voting system, and party system (along with accompanying appropriate non-wikipedia citations). This is a
minimum; feel free to identify other important political institutions for that country if they are particularly
important to that country’s politics based on your research.
Receiving an excellent grade on the assignment, however, requires going beyond a pure factual description.
You must then analyze recent election outcomes or political events. How is the outcome of recent elections shaped by the electoral system? Are there changes
occurring in the country’s party system? And so on. In short, use some aspect of the institutions you
describe to explain the dynamics of recent political events, including election results, major political players,
defining moments, etc.
Doing this assignment will require some research on the non-USA election in question. Researching news
articles in major, reputable national and international news outlets in the lead up to the election or in the
wake of the election should provide you a minimum of information about the politics of the election. Better
papers will generally consult better sources. Use an established and consistent format for citation, including
a bibliography/works cited, I default to the APSR system of citation but any parenthetical style will do (e.g.
APA). There is a 3 page limit.