Overview
Historical overview of New Zealand politics; inequalities; key actors including trade unions, business associations. Treasury and political parties, major areas of public policy.
In this paper we will first examine three schools of thought drawn from classical political economy. We begin with liberalism and then move on to the idea of mercantilism. Finally, we explore the ideas of Marxism and imperialism. We then briefly review the history of New Zealand's political economy from 1935-2016. We will particularly focus on the John Key/Bill English governments since 2008 and issues that have arisen during this period, such as welfare reform, free trade, taxation, poverty/inequality, privatisation and climate change.
About this paper
| Paper title | New Zealand's Political Economy |
|---|---|
| Subject | Politics |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Semester 1 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) | $1,103.10 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- 18 200-level POLS points
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Eligibility
- An interest in national and international affairs is an advantage.
- Contact
- Teaching staff
- Paper Structure
The first section of the paper provides an introduction to neoliberal, Keynesian and Marxist perspectives within political economy. New Zealand’s economic history since 1945 is the focus of Section 2. The third section focuses on social inequality, interest groups and political parties. Broad shifts in the balance of power within New Zealand’s political economy are considered in Section 4. The final section of the paper focuses on the main areas of public policy such as: macroeconomic management, fiscal policy, taxation, employment relations, housing, health, welfare, public sector reform, tertiary education, and climate change policy. The final section will be largely based on student presentations.
- Textbooks
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- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Lifelong learning, Scholarship, Communication, Critical thinking, Ethics, Environmental literacy, Research, Self-motivation, Teamwork.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
- Acquire knowledge and comprehension of major theoretical perspectives in political economy.
- Apply knowledge and understanding of the theories to New Zealand's recent political economy.
- Engage with theoretical perspectives that explain why governments do what they do.
- Learn about New Zealand’s political past in order to develop a clearer understanding of the present.
- Develop an awareness of the wider social and economic context, including inequality within society, to understand how social and economic forces shape politics and influence government.
- Understand the main features of, and actors within, New Zealand’s distinctive political economy.
- Know what government is and how it works.
- Develop skills required for rigorous scholarly public policy analysis, including how to analyse and critically evaluate major policy developments.
- To synthesise knowledge, comprehension and analytical and evaluative skills and to create a unique, original piece of written communication.