Parliamentary democracy in New Zealand

New Zealand's version of Westminster democracy, once regarded as the world's 'purest form', has been altered in recent years as result of developments intended to enlarge parliamentary authority and reduce the power of the executive. Electoral system change has made coalition and minority governments the norm, as multiparty parliaments have increased the political and ethnic diversity of the legislature while curbing the power of the country's two major parties. Unresolved sovereignty issues involving the country's indigenous Maori population have also made once straightforward questions of policy and governance much more complex. Far more secure than most countries and broadly committed to democratic norms and values, the New Zealand polity nevertheless faces genuine challenges as it seeks to adapt inherited political institutions to its multi-cultural circumstances as a South Pacific nation.