Yet ask Kiwis what this “Crown” actually is, and many will give blank stares.
This confusion reflects a fundamental problem with how we talk about political power in New Zealand. We have allowed an abstract, almost mystical concept – the Crown – to obscure a simple democratic truth: in New Zealand, political power comes from the people. Not from some distant monarch. Not from inherited constitutional forms. From us – from the adults among the five million, who trudge to polling booths every three years and decide who gets to make the rules.
This distinction matters. When political power seems to flow from an alien “Crown,” democracy feels like someone else’s institution rather than our collective expression. But when we remember that political power flows from us – the people – democracy becomes something we own together.
The legal reality supports this democratic understanding. New Zealand’s Constitution Act 1986 could hardly be clearer: The Parliament of New Zealand continues to have full power to make laws. Not the Crown. Parliament. And Parliament’s authority flows directly from elections.
Yes, executive government operates in the name of the Crown. But constitutionally, that executive is accountable to Parliament, which is accountable to voters. The Crown, in legal terms, is simply the state’s formal personality – a convenient fiction that allows the government to sign contracts, own property, and be held accountable in court.
Think of it this way: when you receive a speeding ticket from the Crown, you are not being prosecuted by King Charles. You are being held accountable by your fellow citizens, acting through laws they elected their representatives to pass. The Crown is just the legal letterhead – important, but not the source of the authority behind it.
This understanding has deep roots in Westminster constitutional theory. British jurist AV Dicey, often called the father of constitutional law, famously articulated the principle of “parliamentary sovereignty.” This principle means Parliament can make or unmake any law. But crucially, Parliament’s authority derives from democratic accountability to the people. Modern scholar Jeffrey Goldsworthy reinforces this: Parliament’s supreme legal authority exists precisely because it represents the democratic will of the people.
This principle plays out every election day. Millions of individual votes combine to determine Parliament’s composition. That Parliament then exercises supreme legal authority – but only because citizens have chosen its members through the ballot box. The Crown becomes merely the constitutional machinery through which democratic will operates.
So why does New Zealand still talk as if power flows from some mystical Crown? Partly, it is historical habit. When the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840, the Crown represented something real – the British Empire’s imperial power over its colonies. Early New Zealand law naturally framed obligations in “Crown” terms because that imperial Crown held genuine, independent authority.
But democracies evolve. By the time New Zealand achieved full sovereignty, the Crown had become something different – not a source of authority but a vehicle for expressing the people’s will. Unfortunately, our political vocabulary never caught up.
This linguistic lag has practical consequences. It encourages us to think of government as something external rather than as our collective expression. It makes Treaty settlements seem like negotiations between us and them rather than decisions by the whole country about honouring historical commitments. It allows politicians to deflect responsibility by pointing to Crown obligations rather than acknowledging that they implement the people’s choices. When ministers announce policy “on behalf of the Crown,” they obscure the democratic chain of accountability that runs from voters to Parliament to executive action.
Consider how different our national conversations might sound if we consistently remembered where power actually comes from. Instead of debates about what the Crown owes to Māori, we might discuss what we, as a people, have committed to do. Instead of abstract arguments about Crown sovereignty, we might focus on how democratic authority should be exercised.
This reframing does not diminish Treaty obligations. The Treaty was signed with the Crown. But in a democracy, the Crown today is simply the people acting through their institutions. The promises endure because we, as a people, uphold them. When we settle historical grievances, we do so not because some distant Crown requires it, but because we have chosen through our democratic institutions to right historical wrongs.
The beauty of this understanding is its inclusiveness. The Crown inevitably feels like someone else’s institution. But the people? That includes everyone. Māori and Pākehā. New immigrants and fifth-generation families. All of us together, making collective decisions about our shared future.
As we look ahead to the challenges facing New Zealand, we need all our citizens engaged and empowered. That means recognising that democratic authority belongs to them, not to some abstract Crown.
This Waitangi Day, let us move beyond the mythology of Crown power to embrace the reality of democratic authority. Political power in New Zealand comes from the people. Let’s use it to shape a better New Zealand for all New Zealanders.
Roger Partridge is chairman and a co-founder of The New Zealand Initiative and is a senior member of its research team. He led law firm Bell Gully as executive chairman from 2007 to 2014. This article was first published HERE
This distinction matters. When political power seems to flow from an alien “Crown,” democracy feels like someone else’s institution rather than our collective expression. But when we remember that political power flows from us – the people – democracy becomes something we own together.
The legal reality supports this democratic understanding. New Zealand’s Constitution Act 1986 could hardly be clearer: The Parliament of New Zealand continues to have full power to make laws. Not the Crown. Parliament. And Parliament’s authority flows directly from elections.
Yes, executive government operates in the name of the Crown. But constitutionally, that executive is accountable to Parliament, which is accountable to voters. The Crown, in legal terms, is simply the state’s formal personality – a convenient fiction that allows the government to sign contracts, own property, and be held accountable in court.
Think of it this way: when you receive a speeding ticket from the Crown, you are not being prosecuted by King Charles. You are being held accountable by your fellow citizens, acting through laws they elected their representatives to pass. The Crown is just the legal letterhead – important, but not the source of the authority behind it.
This understanding has deep roots in Westminster constitutional theory. British jurist AV Dicey, often called the father of constitutional law, famously articulated the principle of “parliamentary sovereignty.” This principle means Parliament can make or unmake any law. But crucially, Parliament’s authority derives from democratic accountability to the people. Modern scholar Jeffrey Goldsworthy reinforces this: Parliament’s supreme legal authority exists precisely because it represents the democratic will of the people.
This principle plays out every election day. Millions of individual votes combine to determine Parliament’s composition. That Parliament then exercises supreme legal authority – but only because citizens have chosen its members through the ballot box. The Crown becomes merely the constitutional machinery through which democratic will operates.
So why does New Zealand still talk as if power flows from some mystical Crown? Partly, it is historical habit. When the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840, the Crown represented something real – the British Empire’s imperial power over its colonies. Early New Zealand law naturally framed obligations in “Crown” terms because that imperial Crown held genuine, independent authority.
But democracies evolve. By the time New Zealand achieved full sovereignty, the Crown had become something different – not a source of authority but a vehicle for expressing the people’s will. Unfortunately, our political vocabulary never caught up.
This linguistic lag has practical consequences. It encourages us to think of government as something external rather than as our collective expression. It makes Treaty settlements seem like negotiations between us and them rather than decisions by the whole country about honouring historical commitments. It allows politicians to deflect responsibility by pointing to Crown obligations rather than acknowledging that they implement the people’s choices. When ministers announce policy “on behalf of the Crown,” they obscure the democratic chain of accountability that runs from voters to Parliament to executive action.
Consider how different our national conversations might sound if we consistently remembered where power actually comes from. Instead of debates about what the Crown owes to Māori, we might discuss what we, as a people, have committed to do. Instead of abstract arguments about Crown sovereignty, we might focus on how democratic authority should be exercised.
This reframing does not diminish Treaty obligations. The Treaty was signed with the Crown. But in a democracy, the Crown today is simply the people acting through their institutions. The promises endure because we, as a people, uphold them. When we settle historical grievances, we do so not because some distant Crown requires it, but because we have chosen through our democratic institutions to right historical wrongs.
The beauty of this understanding is its inclusiveness. The Crown inevitably feels like someone else’s institution. But the people? That includes everyone. Māori and Pākehā. New immigrants and fifth-generation families. All of us together, making collective decisions about our shared future.
As we look ahead to the challenges facing New Zealand, we need all our citizens engaged and empowered. That means recognising that democratic authority belongs to them, not to some abstract Crown.
This Waitangi Day, let us move beyond the mythology of Crown power to embrace the reality of democratic authority. Political power in New Zealand comes from the people. Let’s use it to shape a better New Zealand for all New Zealanders.
Roger Partridge is chairman and a co-founder of The New Zealand Initiative and is a senior member of its research team. He led law firm Bell Gully as executive chairman from 2007 to 2014. This article was first published HERE
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