Have New Zealand's political experiments increased public accountability?

Abstract

New Zealand has undergone two major political reforms over the last decade, a radical restructuring of its public sector and a radical change to the electoral system. This paper examines the extent to which the reforms have improved the accountability of governments to the public. The public sector reforms have reduced the extent of political control and therefore of accountability through the political system. At the same time, within the core public service, performance contracts and strategic planning have increased political control while fears that ministerial responsibility would be weakened have proved exaggerated. Electoral reform has increased the accountability of Parliament to voters though the new system needs some fine tuning. Compulsory voting may be worth considering in the longer term.