Language and the New Zealand state : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Public Policy at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine how and why the New Zealand government has intervened in language. Three language groups were investigated: Te Reo Maori, Languages Other Than English or Maori, and The English Language. For each language, a summary of language policies has been provided. The policies have then been analysed by applying various theories of the state. Four theories have been used: the Minimal State, the Instrumental State, the Just State, and the Ethical State. The research has sought to establish how the imperatives created by each theory may have been used to justify policies for each language group. The adopted method is secondary analysis, using a combination of documents from the government, the media and academic sources. Each item of text used has been categorised according to which model of the state it represents. Excerpts from the texts themselves have been interspersed with analysis by the researcher, placing them within the context of the theoretical model with which they are most closely aligned. In this way, it could be ascertained whether government discourse on language policy has provided any evidence that theoretical models of the state have been used in policy-making. The research is qualitative in nature, with a high degree of subjective interpretation. The result is a detailed description of language policies in New Zealand and of the imperatives behind them, which demonstrates the inadequacy of any one theory of the state for explaining the intricacies of why public policy is created.