The Maori Party : the rise of indigenous liberalism : an evolution of Will Kymlicka’s theory of liberal culturalism in Maori politics : a thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Department of Political Studies, University of Auckland

Abstract

The primary aim of this thesis is to show that the Maori Party is more than just another Maori political party but is also a new evolutional development of the current liberal culturalism theory of renowned indigenous political theorist Will Kymlicka, that places both Maori and New Zealand politics in the forefront of contemporary international indigenous politics. In a first of its kind, this thesis will explain how the Maori Party has manifest and expanded the indigenous part of Kymlicka's theory by individualizing and centralizing the collective identity of the Maori tribes; creating an entirely new component called indigenous liberalism. Describing the core elements that constitute the rise of indigenous liberalism in Maori and New Zealand politics by analyzing its primary vehicle- the Maori Party, this thesis will reveal in detail the political distinctiveness of the Maori Party in relation to Kymlicka's theory and to international indigenous political theory in general, the extraordinary circumstances that facilitated its creation and how the Maori Party has shifted Maori nationalist ideology from an antagonistic activism against the Crown-in-Parliament towards a more co-operative centre ground. Included will be a comprehensive description of how the Maori Party have implemented the tribal structures of Maori society into its party membership, the method of how it has superimposed the cultural principles of Maoridom onto western party politics in both an indigenous and liberal manner, and how the Maori Party has utilized the Maori electoral system to strongly consolidate its parliamentary position in a way that may decide who will govern New Zealand in the near future. For balance, this thesis will also take a critical look at its public declarations of representing the Maori people and being the official Treaty partner, whether these claims are true or if their political ideology matches the political reality of today; revealing acute discrepancies in the process. This will close with how the existing MMP environment may facilitate yet another further development of the Kymlicka 'liberal culturalism' theory with the possible coalition government between the Maori Party and the National Party in 2008; resulting in the potential merger of liberal culturalism and indigenous liberalism. All this and more will be presented, with the aim of substantiating the viewpoint that both Maori and New Zealand politics are the leading political systems of observing first hand, the astonishing rise of indigenous liberalism and the future evolutional development of Kymlicka's theory of liberal culturalism.