Political parties have long played a crucial role in New Zealand
politics. A “party system” developed in the nineteenth century
in the parliamentary sphere and in the country at large as
political parties organised themselves and began to compete for
office. Since the late-nineteenth century the composition of
governments has been determined by the strength of the various
parties’ representation in Parliament. The party system helps
both to formulate and to translate voter preferences into a
parliamentary line-up of members. It helps to give some
coherence to political action undertaken through parliamentary
means, based on allegiances declared at the time of a general
election. Although parties have occupied this leading role in
New Zealand politics for over a century, they have received very
little legal or official recognition until comparatively
recently, having generally been regarded as private, voluntary
bodies. This has changed significantly. The electoral system
has, since 1996, been based explicitly