ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in New Zealand. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities (PPP), life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in New Zealand. New Zealand achieved full self-government prior to World War II, and gained full independence from the United Kingdom in 1947. Since 1935, political power in this parliamentary democracy has alternated between the mildly conservative National Party and the center-left Labor Party. Both parties helped to develop one of the world's most progressive welfare states. New Zealanders can change their government through elections and face few restrictions on basic rights. Parliament is elected under a mixed proportional system that is designed to help smaller parties gain seats.
