Politics of American Samoa
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Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/Reconfirmer|Reconfirmer]] ([[User talk:Reconfirmer|talk]]) to last version by 213.44.165.74
{{Politics of American Samoa}}
'''Politics of American Samoa''' takes place in a framework of a [[presidential]] [[representative democracy|representative democratic]] [[Dependent territory|dependency]], whereby the [[List of American Samoa Governors|Governor]] is the [[head of government]], and of a [[Wiktionary:pluriform|pluriform]] multi-party system. [[American Samoa]] is an unincorporated and [[unorganized territory]] of the [[United States]], administered by the [[Office of Insular Affairs]], [[US Department of the Interior]]. Its constitution was ratified [[1966]] and came into effect [[1967]]. [[Executive power]] is exercised by the government. [[Legislative power]] is vested in the two chambers of the legislature. The party system is a copy of the United States party system. The [[Judiciary]] is independent of the executive and the legislature.
There is also the traditional village politics of the Samoa Islands, the "[[faamatai]]" and the "[[faasamoa]]", which continues in American Samoa and in independent Samoa, and which interacts across these current boundaries. The Fa'asamoa is the language and customs, and the Fa'amatai the protocols of the "[[fono]]" (council) and the chiefly system. The Fa'amatai and the Fono take place at all levels of the Samoan body politic, from the family, to the village, to the region, to national matters. The "matai" (chiefs) are elected by consensus within the fono of the extended family and village(s) concerned. The matai and the fono (which is itself made of matai) decide on distribution of family exchanges and tenancy of communal lands. The majority of lands in American Samoa and independent Samoa are communal. A matai can represent a small family group or a great extended family that reaches across islands, and to both American Samoa and independent [[Samoa]].
==Executive branch==
{{office-table}}
|[[President of the United States]]
|[[George W. Bush]]
|[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|[[20 January]] [[2001]]
|-
|[[List of American Samoa Governors|Governor]]
|[[Togiola Tulafono]]
|[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]
|[[26 March]] [[2003]]
|}
The [[governor]] and the [[lieutenant governor]] are elected on the same [[Ticket (election)|ticket]] by [[popular vote]] for four-year terms.
==Legislative branch==
The '''Legislature''' or ''[[American Samoa Fono|Fono]]'' has two [[bicameralism|chambers]]. The [[American Samoa House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] has 18 members, elected for a two year term, seventeen in single-seat [[constituency|constituencies]] and one by a public meeting on [[Swain Island]]. The [[American Samoa Senate|Senate]] also has 18 members, elected for a four year term by and from the chiefs of the islands.
==Political parties and elections==
:''An overview on [[elections]] and election results is included in [[Elections in American Samoa]].''
{{American Samoa governor election, 2004}}
{{American Samoa House election, 2006}}
{{American Samoa Senate election, 2004}}
At the [[2 November]] [[2004]] election Eni F. H. Faleomavaega of the [[Democratic Party (United States)]] defeated the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] candidate and was re-elected.
==Judicial branch==
The High Court ([[chief justice]] and [[associate justices]] are appointed by the [[United States Secretary of the Interior]])
===International organization participation===
[[ESCAP]] (associate), [[Interpol]] (subbureau), [[IOC]], [[Secretariat of the Pacific Community|SPC]]
{{American Samoa}}
{{Oceania in topic|Politics of}}
[[Category:Politics of American Samoa]]
[[he:פוליטיקה של סמואה האמריקנית]]
[[fr:Politique des Samoa américaines]]