Paul Harris (public servant)

{{Short description|New Zealand public servant and academic}}

Paul Raymond Harris (born Auckland 16 July 1946) is a New Zealand senior public servant and political and constitutional studies academic.New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa 2001, p. 417

Education

Harris spent his childhood in Auckland and received his secondary education at St Peter's College. He graduated BA(Hons) at Victoria University of Wellington in 1971 and Ph.D at the Australian National University in 1981.

Career

Harris was Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission from 1994 until 2003.[http://www.mmpreview.org.nz/sites/default/files/submissions/uploads/Submission%20on%20MMP,%20May%202012.pdf Submission to the Electoral Commission on the review of MMP], Paul Harris, 31 May 2012, accessed 2013-11-12. In 2007 he headed an independent working group on Fiji's elections, under the auspices of the Fiji interim Government and the Pacific Islands Forum, in the wake of the 2006 Fijian coup d'état.{{citation|title=NZ to extend ban on Fiji's rulers|first=Audrey|last=Young|date=June 26, 2007|newspaper=New Zealand Herald|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10447926}}. He has also been Country Director for Yemen at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems,{{citation|title=Changes to elections law recommended, IFES|newspaper=Yemen Observer|url=http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/printer-1006007.html|first=Mohammed|last=Al-Kibsi|date=Apr 21, 2005|url-status=usurped|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20131113022215/http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/printer-1006007.html|archivedate=2013-11-13}}. and served twice as an official New Zealand election observer in Indonesia.{{citation|title=NZ team to observe Indonesia's elections|newspaper=Scoop|date=2 July 2004|url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0407/S00074.htm}}. Before serving on the electoral commission, he was a Lecturer at the Canberra College of Advanced Education (1975–1979), Senior Lecturer, Department of Politics, Victoria University of Wellington (1979–1994) and Principal Research officer, Royal Commission on the Electoral System (1985–1986).

Notable student

{{Annotated link|Bronwyn Hayward}}{{Cite thesis |last=Hayward |first=Bronwyn |title=Beyond consensus : social learning in urban planning |date=2000 |degree=Doctoral |publisher=University of Otago |url=https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/handle/10523/3369}}

Publications

Harris's publications include:

  • "Green’s theory of political obligation and disobedience" (1982)The Philosophy of T. H. Green, pp 127–42, Andrew Vincent editor, Gower Publishing, {{ISBN|0-566-05104-4}}
  • T. H. Green Lectures on the Principles of Political Obligation and other Writings (co-editor) 1986.
  • On Political Obligations (editor) 1990.
  • New Zealand Politics Source Book (co-editor) 1992, 1994.
  • Voter's Choice: Electoral Change in NZ (co-author) 1992.

References