Politics of American Samoa takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic dependency, whereby the Governor is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. American Samoa is an unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior. Its constitution was ratified 1966 and came into effect 1967. Executive power is discharged by the governor and the lieutenant governor. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the legislature. The party system is a based on the United States party system. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Politics of Samoa takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic state whereby the Prime Minister of Samoa is the head of government. Existing alongside the country's Western styled political system is the fa'amatai chiefly system of socio-political governance and organisation, central to understanding Samoa's political system.
The American Samoan Legislature or Fono has two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate with a directly elected head of government, the Governor of American Samoa. The House of Representatives has 21 members, elected for a two-year term, 14 in single-seat districts, 6 from dual-seat districts and 1 by a public meeting on Swain Island. The Senate has 18 members, elected for a four-year term by and from the chiefs of the islands. The Governor and their deputy, the Lieutenant Governor are elected on a 4-year term.
At the national level, Samoa elects a legislature. The Fono or Legislative Assembly has 49 members elected for a five-year term, 47 members out of the matai six of whom are elected from two-seat constituencies and 35 from single-seat constituencies, and 2 members by the non-Samoan nationals. The head of state is elected for a five-year term by the parliament.
The American Samoa House of Representatives is the lower house of the American Samoa Fono. The House consists of 21 representatives serving two-year terms, with 20 popularly elected members, and one representative elected by a public meeting on Swains Island.
The American Samoa Senate is the upper house of the American Samoa Fono. The Senate, like the lower House of Representatives, is a nonpartisan body. It is composed of 18 senators, serving a four-year term.
Fagatogo is the Downtown area of Pago Pago, the territorial capital of American Samoa. It is the seat of the judiciary, and it is the commercial center of Tutuila Island. Its population is 3,000. Fagatogo is the location of the American Samoa Fono (legislature), and is listed in the Constitution of American Samoa as the territory's official seat of government. Fagatogo is the seat of government and the financial, commercial, and shipping center of American Samoa.
General elections was held in American Samoa on 4 November 2008, coinciding with the 2008 United States general elections.
A term of office is the length of time a person serves in a particular elected office. In many jurisdictions there is a defined limit on how long terms of office may be before the officeholder must be subject to re-election. Some jurisdictions exercise term limits, setting a maximum number of terms an individual may hold in a particular office.
Fepulea’i Afa Ripley Jr. is a former Attorney General of American Samoa. Governor Togiola Tulafono appointed him to succeed Malaetasi Togafau, who died on March 9, 2007, and he was approved by the Fono, or legislature. Ripley is an alumnus of California Western School of Law, and was chairman of the board of the American Samoa Power Authority prior to his appointment.
The government of American Samoa is defined under the Constitution of American Samoa.
Fa'amatai is the chiefly system of Samoa, central to the organization of Samoan society.
It is the traditional indigenous form of governance in the Samoa Islands, comprising American Samoa and the Independent State of Samoa. The term comprises the prefix fa'a and the word matai.
Tuanaitau Fa'atamala Tuia was an American Samoan politician and the longest-serving member of the American Samoan territorial legislature, the Fono, in history. Tuia served a combined 49 years in the Fono, including thirty years in the American Samoa House of Representatives and seventeen years in the Senate.
Vernon Huber was a United States Navy Rear admiral, and the 36th Governor of American Samoa from April 22, 1947 to June 15, 1949. He was born in Philadelphia, Illinois, and was appointed to the United States Naval Academy from that state. He served as the first commanding officer of the USS Livermore (DD-429) upon its launch in 1940. After his appointment, he advocated the diversification of the American Samoan economy. He also helped to increase the level American Samoan self-government, and was the first governor to serve alongside a Samoan legislature, the American Samoa Fono.
General elections were held in Western Samoa on 3 April 1948, the first to the new Legislative Assembly. The United Citizens Party won four of the five directly-elected seats.
Samoa, formally the Independent State of Samoa, has a population of approximately 188,000 people. Samoa gained independence from New Zealand in 1962 and has a Westminster model of Parliamentary democracy which incorporates aspects of traditional practices. The Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) is currently in government and has been so for over 20 years. In 2016, Samoa ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities CRPD and the three optional protocols to the CRC
