Rate My Professor Janine Hayward

Janine Hayward is a Professor in the Politics Programme at the University of Otago, within the School of Social Sciences in the Division of Humanities. She earned a BA and BA (Hons) from the University of Canterbury and a PhD from Victoria University of Wellington. Her research and teaching focus on various aspects of New Zealand politics, including Treaty of Waitangi politics, New Zealand's constitution, electoral politics, local government politics, environmental politics, and electoral systems such as STV in local government. She also examines comparative constitutional politics in Commonwealth nations and indigenous-state relations, with comparisons to Canada. Hayward serves as Course Adviser and MPols Convener in the Politics Programme. She is recognized as a media expert on New Zealand government and politics, the Treaty of Waitangi, and related topics.

Hayward has authored and edited numerous key publications in her field. Recent works include co-editing Te Tiriti o Waitangi relationships: People, politics and law (Bridget Williams Books, 2024), contributing chapters on Treaty principles clauses and the introduction; 'Dunedin Voters in the 2020s: Fickle, Cueless and Cynical or Interested, Informed and Discerning?' with C. Rudd and C. Venanzetti (Kōtuitui, 2026); and '‘Be strong and be kind’: Jacinda Ardern and the sixth Labour government' with C. Timperley (Political Science, 2025). Prominent earlier books encompass The Waitangi Tribunal: Te Roopu Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi, co-edited with N. Wheen (Bridget Williams Books, 2016); Treaty of Waitangi Settlements, co-edited with N.R. Wheen (Bridget Williams Books, 2012); Local Government and the Treaty of Waitangi (2003); and Government and Politics in Aotearoa New Zealand, lead editor with L. Greaves and C. Timperley (Oxford University Press, 2021, seventh edition). Her scholarship has garnered over 800 citations, reflecting her influence on studies of Māori political representation, Treaty settlements, and electoral reform. She teaches POLS 237/337 New Zealand Government and Constitution, POLS 319 Te Tiriti/Treaty Politics, and POLS 520 New Zealand Government and Politics.