The 100 days : claiming back New Zealand : what has gone wrong and how we can control our politicians / Amy Brooke.

Controlling our politicians -- The social and intellectual consequences of a badly-run country and a fragmenting society -- Back to the future : the hijacking of our education system : tracing what happened, and why (columns previously published in Investigate magazine) -- 100 days : strategies for the way forward.

This is an epic and engaging read on what has gone wrong with NZ's political and bureaucratic systems, and how the public can regain control over politicians. Brooke advocates the Swiss system of a 100 day public veto of controversial new laws - if the public can muster up enough signatures within three months of a law change to force a referendum, the referendum result is binding on the government. Like New Zealanders, the Swiss don't want to be running to the polls every five minutes on stupid issues, so they save their referendum veto for issues of major concern. The difference between Switzerland and New Zealand is that when it really counts, the Swiss can bring their government to heel. New Zealanders cannot. Regardless of whether you are to the Left or the Right on the political spectrum, the 100 days concept works for you to keep successive governments honest. Just last weekend the Swiss voted to end the practice of multi-million dollar executive pay bonuses to executives whose companies were losing money, in what has been publicised in world media as the toughest crackdown on executive greed anywhere in the world.