political system, education and economy of Nz.pptVIP

Political system, education and economy General introduction It is a country of parliamentary representative democratic monarchy. The basic system is closely patterned on that of the Westminster System, although a number of significant modifications have been made. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented by the Governor-General and the head of government is the Prime Minister who chairs the Cabinet drawn from an elected Parliament Constitution New Zealand has no formal codified constitution; the constitutional framework consists of a mixture of various documents (including certain acts of the United Kingdom and New Zealand Parliaments), the Treaty of Waitangi and constitutional conventions. The Constitution Act in 1852 established the system of government and these were later consolidated in 1986. Executive Head of state Queen Elizabeth II is the current Queen of New Zealand In practice, the functions of the monarchy are conducted by the Governor-General, appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister. As of 2011, the Governor-General is Sir Jerry Mateparae. Functions of governor general The Governor-Generals powers are primarily symbolic and formal in nature. The Governor-General formally has the power to appoint and dismiss Prime Ministers and to dissolve Parliament; and also formally signs legislation into law after passage by Parliament. Head of government Cabinet is the most senior policy-making body and is led by the Prime Minister John Key from national party, who is also, by convention, the Parliamentary leader of the governing party or coalition, and is known as the head of government. The New Zealand Cabinet is responsible to New Zealand Parliament from which its members are derived. All 20 Cabinet Ministers must be Members of Parliament (MPs) and are collectively responsible to it. General elections are held every three years. Legislature New Zealands main legislative body is a unicameral Parliament k