As David Runciman warns in How Democracy Ends, democracies rarely collapse in a single moment — instead they hollow out from within. That’s the risk we see in two recent government bills.
Trust Democracy has just made submissions on the:
- Electoral Amendment Bill, which reverses NZ’s long-run progress in extending the franchise
- Public Service Amendment Bill, which paves the way for the further politicisation of the public service.
Both bills deal with laws that are constitutional in nature and should therefore have been developed through open, inclusive processes, ideally with independent oversight. Yet in both cases, the Government has chosen to limit public input to the select committee stage when it is far harder for meaningful changes to be made.
Take together, the bills align with concerning international trends where voting rights are restricted and executive power is entrenched at the expense of democratic safeguards.
While neither bill currently fits with Trust Democracy’s vision for more and better democracy through innovations that support a fair, just and inclusive Aotearoa New Zealand, we were please to propose amendments that would take us in this direction!
Here are links to our submissions: