The important role of community and voluntary sector organisations to democratic debate and policy development is widely acknowledged by governments, academics, and the sector itself. However, our survey of 153 NZ community and voluntary sector groups shows that democratic engagement has been constrained under both Labour-led and National-led governments in the last decade. The ‘contract’...

In this lecture I will: • comment on some of the complex challenges of the 21st century which cry out for effective global governance reflecting today’s geopolitical and other realities; and • examine whether global governance institutions – particularly in the areas of peace and security, economic governance, sustainable development and climate change – have...

"There appears to be a widespread assumption that there is a ‘silent majority’ of people who support proposals but do not make submissions, and that those who do make submissions tend to be opposed and therefore do not reflect the true state of public opinion. The New Zealand Wind Energy Association (a membership-based wind industry...

The online presence of tertiary libraries is becoming increasingly important, however, research (OCLC, 2010) suggests that library websites are being shunned in favour of commercial search engines. Some scholars (Reidsma, 2012; McCann et al., 2010) attribute this to poor website design. Websites are a valid communication concern and what content is displayed, as well as...

This paper examines the progress of the Land and Water Forum, which was a stakeholder-led collaborative governance process established to recommend potential reform of New Zealand’s fresh water management. Introduction: Looking at collaborative processes in retrospect is always easier than it was at the time they were first happening. They tend to look more designed...