Explaining the demise of the national–New Zealand first coalition

This article considers the fall of New Zealand's first coalition government under the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system, through the prism of a ‘unified’ model of Cabinet durability. This model incorporates both the ‘structural attributes’ of the government at the time of its formation, as well as the stochastic ‘critical events’ that occur over its lifetime. However, the conventional attributes of the National–New Zealand First coalition were considered favourable, and the critical event that precipitated its demise did not by itself appear to be a sufficient condition for termination. It is argued that the hitherto unspecified structural attribute of intra‐party stability was a significant factor for this particular coalition, and that this case also demonstrates the cumulative impact of non‐terminal events in undermining the incentives for continued cooperation between coalition partners.     

A New Approach to Studies of the Tibetan Issue

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Ambiguous immigrants? Examining the changing status of the English in New Zealand

Drawing on a qualitative interview‐based study of English migrants in New Zealand, this article examines, if and how, overseas migration triggers national sentiments that were previously relatively amorphous in their country of origin. In those cases where this occurs, it analyses the diverse and contextual orientations migrants display, and discusses the empirical and analytic challenges posed when seeking to conceptualise a category of persons that have been described as ‘ambiguous immigrants’. The study concludes that research on this ambiguity contributes to debates about the relationship between dominant ethnicity and national identity while highlighting the simplicities of many concepts used to describe and analyse ‘the English’.     

The Six New Towns of the Bishops of Winchester, 1200–55

THE CHANCE DISCOVERY of a waterlogged wooden beam during the cutting of a drainage ditch led to the excavation of the timber framework of a medieval water-mill. Almost half the water-wheel survived in situ. A little 14th-century pottery was found in the wheel-pit; its structure was extremely similar to that of the approximately contemporary period I mill at Chingley.¹ The mill at Batsford was probably used for grinding grain; no trace of the mill building itself was found.     

New Life of Lhasa

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The Tiby Hagen Collection at the Archives of New Caledonia∗

Abstract

The intensive exploration of West New Guinea started in the early years of this century. It was interrupted by World War I and resumed afterwards. Apart from a large scale programme undertaken by the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies, it included expeditions by British and German explorers. Many among them were scholars who investigated the local populations, fauna, geography, and geology, with a view to the colonial valorisation of the area.

Several of the expeditions aimed at exploring the Central Highlands and thus encountered Highlanders. Unfortunately, little is known about the reactions of these people to meeting Europeans, and more about reactions of Europeans to meeting Highlanders. The content of the paper reflects this discrepancy.     

How New is the New Local Governance? Lessons from the United Kingdom

In recent times, a conventional wisdom concerning the governance of cities has emerged. It revolves around the contention that policy and planning frameworks are increasingly closed off from public and democratic accountability, in order to facilitate the pursuit of efficiency over equity objectives. The implication is that 'old' styles of governance were more open and accountable, while the 'new' seek to close off debate and streamline procedures. Yet the evidence to sustain such claims seems limited; this paper situates the policies and practices of local government in the UK within a historical perspective, and develops the contention that the claimed differences between old and new styles of governance are overdrawn. Using empirical material from two UK cities, we demonstrate that there are significant continuities in the procedures and practices of policy-makers, in terms of policy objectives, styles and modes of accountability. In this sense, greater clarity is required in terms of what constitutes both the old and new modes of local governance in the British cities.     

The Style of Blugzeimat and the “Masks” of the Prehistoric Rock Art of the Western Sahara: New Evidence for Long-Distance Contacts

Blugzeimat is a prehistoric rock-art site in the Tiris region (southern Western Sahara), with more than 100 engraved slabs. The major portion of these engravings represents zoomorphs, anthropomorphs and non-figurative signs. Based on the absence of protohistoric texts, chariots or horse riders, and the probable depiction of a halberd, the age of these engravings may correspond to the first half of the second millennium BCE. The stylistic attributes of the engraved bovines, which are the most commonly represented subject, allow us to relate Blugzeimat to several sites with pecked engravings located in the Tiris (Western Sahara) and Adrar (north-western Mauritania) regions. In addition to this first stylistic and geographic delimitation, we have also been able to identify signs, traditionally designated as “masks” in the literature, which relate Blugzeimat to several sites with incised engravings located in the northern Saguia el Hamra basin. As incised and pecked engraving techniques have been regularly considered examples of unrelated rupestrian traditions in the Western Sahara, the engraving of these highly specific signs using both techniques allows us to question that paradigm. Finally, the long-distance thematic coincidence represented by the presence of such signs, in regions far from one another, provides additional evidence to refute the common idea of an absence or scarcity of cultural contacts between the north and south of the Western Sahara before the adoption of the horse and camel.     

The New Spirituality,or The Democratization of Divinity and Vice Versa (Has the New Age Come of Age?)

America and indeed the West have been witnessing the emergence of a new spirituality. Where once one looked for God beyond oneself, many now claim to have found God within. Perhaps contrary to initial appearances, the New Spirituality embraces many important tenets of older philosophic and spiritual traditions. But for this very reason (among others), the New Spirituality also stands in need of critique informed by those same traditions. This article explores the character and origins of the New Spirituality and attempts a critique from the perspective of Socratic or classical political philosophy. The effort at critique yields a certain appreciation, including the suggestion that the New Spirituality might help us gain access to certain elements of the classical tradition. But the critique also addresses a troublesome utopian temper that raises serious questions about the wisdom and goodness of this growing movement.     

The Influence of ‘Benthamite’ Philosophies on British Colonial Policy on New Zealand in the Era of the Treaty of Waitangi

Most of the recent historiography on the British presence in the South Pacific in the first half of the nineteenth century rightly reflects the dichotomy of private commercial enthusiasm for imperial expansion set against a backdrop of official hesitance and vacillation over any possible enlargement of the empire—a stance manifested in Britain's stance on New Zealand prior to 1840. However, such analyses, which emphasise the reactive, unplanned and incremental extension of British interests and involvement in New Zealand, tend to bypass consideration of the particular philosophical influences that helped to shape British colonial policy during this time. This article surveys those social philosophies formulated by Jeremy Bentham—and advanced by his followers—which prescribed a distinct form of colonial intervention and government. It focuses specifically on Bentham's utilitarianism, and his notions of colonial trusteeship, and explores how these ideas insinuated their way into British colonial policy relating to New Zealand in the 1830s, culminating in the Treaty of Waitangi (1840).     

Succession of government in the post‐colonial states of the South Pacific: New support for constitutionalism?

The mechanisms for changing governments in the post‐colonial states of the South Pacific constitute a unique variant of the Westminster mechanisms earlier adopted in the Dominions and in the ex‐British colonies of Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. This is so to the point where we can speak of a ‘South Pacific model of succession’. In this model, the power to appoint governments is given to parliament, the head of state has no discretionary role on questions of succession, and the convention that a Prime Minister should resign following the passing of a no‐confidence motion is encoded. In contrast to the experience of most other post‐colonial societies, these constitutional mechanisms have actually governed the way in which power has changed hands. Force has not been used either to remove or entrench a government. Central to an explanation of this experience is that no significantly sized group within these states has felt itself to be fully excluded from the possibility of gaining government or from having some representatives of their interests in power. This, however, may not be the case in the future as many of the factors currently contributing to the legitimacy of constitutional succession of government are undergoing rapid change.     

The ‘Wicked Machinery of Government':1 Malta and the Problems of Continuity under the New Model Administration

This is a study focused on the early years of British rule in Malta (1800–13). It explores the application to the island of the ‘new model’ of colonial government, one based on direct rule from London mediated by the continuation of existing laws and institutions. Systemic deficiencies are identified. These tended to undermine the effectiveness of direct British rule. This study also reveals, in the context of legal and constitutional continuity, unresolved tensions between modernity and tradition. The political stability of the island was damaged and the possibility of continued British possession was threatened.