Government

Parliament Buildings (The Beehive), Wellington (2001)©

 

For the basics on countries around the world, including an outline of their political systems, see the CIA World Factbook.

Diplomacy Monitor from the St Thomas University School of Law, Miami, Florida.

Try the Political Compass to see where you fit on this two-dimensional spectrum. Also of interest is Political Theory Daily Review

New Zealand

A General Election in New Zealand was held on 8 November 2008 (the fifth under a German-style MMP system). Official results provided the basis for National to form another coalition government with support from many of the minor parties. Previous elections were held on 17 September 2005, 27 July 2002, 27 November 1999 and 12 October 1996. Based on preliminary election night results, the parties represented in the new 122 seats Parliament are (roughly ordered from right to left of the political spectrum):

 
  • ACT - enjoyed revived support and participating in the new Government (1 electorate and 4 lists seat)
  • National - will form the basis of a new Government (41 electorate and 18 list seats)
  • United Future - lost a seat and supporting the new Government (1 electorate seat)
  • Maori - gained a seat (5 electorate seats) 
  • Labour - back in Opposition after three terms in government (21 electorate and 22 list seats)
  • Progressive - got back in with a win in Wigram (1 electorate seat)
  • Green - gaining two seats (8 list seats)

Other parties include:

 
  • Alliance - the split of the former junior coalition partner in the previous government
  • Workers Party - Maoist

The New Zealand Parliament web site has a wealth of current and older information. The debates in Parliament are available in a searchable version of the New Zealand Hansard. The Parliamentary Library publishes research papers and Electorate Profiles.

Beehive NEW - the official web site of the New Zealand Government and source for ministerial news releases and speech notes.

David Farrar has a weblog primarily devoted to New Zealand politics with good links to other local political weblogs.

The relevant news group is nz.politics.

Australia

The most recent Federal election was held on 24 November 2007. The previous election was held on 9 October 2004.

United States

C-SPAN, which provides coverage of both houses of the US Congress, is available using free RealVideo software.

For following US politics in detail try starting with: 

The American Conservative Union (ACU) on the conservative end of the political spectrum and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on the liberal end are noted for the ratings/scorecards that they produce of individual members of the US Congress based on their voting records.

Canada

The last federal general election was held on 23 January 2006.

United Kingdom

The last general election was held on 5 May 2005.

European Union

Last modified 23 August 2009

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