On the question is NZ a Dictatorship

At this link, Polly Gillespie writes an opinion piece on whether New Zealand is a dictatorship. After reading it, I have an unanswered question: What exactly is New Zealand’s political system? Polly delivers—in my mind at least—a convincing argument that NZ is not a dictatorship. Having outlined what NZ is not, I would have found it very helpful for Polly to share with the readers what she believes NZ is. If we asked New Zealanders that question, the result would reveal a spectrum between autocracy and democracy. I land in the position of an ineffective democracy.

What we see in NZ is a Prime Minister trying to lead their country. One thing I have learned is that you cannot lead significant change on your own. In the context of COVID-19, one can observe a multitude of approaches to deal with the pandemic. When watching an increasing number of people protesting in NZ within a growing number of regions, I ask myself, where is the voice of the Mayor or the local member of parliament? In essence, where is the democratically elected representative of the region? Why are they not visibly taking action to listen, see things from the perspective of others, and provide an outline of the effort they require from the public and, importantly, what they will do on their behalf. Instead, the protestors will go where the Prime Minister works or where she elects to visit, bypassing their regional elected representatives.

The Prime Minister cannot lead New Zealand out of this alone. Even the team of ‘experts’ we regularly see —assuming people still watch the daily updates—are not enough. An apt quote from Gen Bruce C. Clark states, “when things go wrong, start searching for the reason in increasingly larger concentric around your own desk”. One interpretation of that statement is that problems usually exist with the single leader at the top. Another perspective is that the further you look, you can find layers of ineffective action. In the context of this article, regional elected leaders are a likely part of the problem. So What?

At this time of heightening tension, it would help to understand why elected regional leaders are not visible and heard. Is it because they are not showing the courage to stand up? Are they not allowed to stand up? Do the leaders at the top of the elected system not know how to delegate and trust? Is the NZ media only focussing on a few select trees and failing to see and represent the forest as a whole? Irrespective of all the questions—of course, there are many others to ask—the vital thing is that we ask them, discuss them, debate them, and learn from one another. Let us not focus on the one person at the top of the leadership pole: the Prime Minister. New Zealand is a system built from smaller systems. What we see in the form of protests and media articles is a direct result of the system. The Prime Minister alone did not create that system.

One could argue that we are entering a critical time that tests New Zealand’s political beliefs. All of us can take the time to use critical thinking— not the level some will have you believe primary school children are using. Before you can critically think, you must know what the question is you are trying to answer. Then start researching far and wide to answer the question, avoiding the easy path of finding only the information that will answer the question the way you want it answered. As part of the critical thinking journey, many other questions will arise. These are part of the divergent creative thinking pathway that builds up from the far and exhaustive research. Then, narrowing those creative thoughts helps you arrive at a well-founded belief or set of ideas that answer your question.

The linked article answers a basic question with a simple two-letter word for an answer. One hopes that NZ is not a system of systems that stop their thinking after reading an article in stuff. To discourage that approach, we can all ask ourselves two concise questions that encourage critical thinking: so what, and then now what? Reading the linked article and asking so what then suggests that the democratic political system is not working in response to COVID-19. In answer to the now what question, the solution cannot rest with asking the Prime Minister alone to fix it. Otherwise, Polly will need to edit her article.