Country profile
American Samoa
Oceania · Polynesia
AS · ASM
- Capital
- Pago Pago
- Population
- 49,710
- Area
- 199 km²
- Democracy index
- 88
- Regime type
- Robust Democracy
Events
Ballots from American Samoa
The latest elections, referendums, and opinion polls from American Samoa. Community totals are not official results.
Live(1)1 published ballot
Classification
Democracy profile
The score and regime label are assigned by Porto Voto using our in-house democracy index and classification framework, not ratings from governments or external agencies.
Democracy index
88/100
Regime type
Robust Democracy
As an unincorporated unorganized territory of the United States, American Samoa maintains a stable democratic framework characterized by a unique blend of traditional Fa amatai systems and modern constitutional governance. The territory conducts regular, free, and competitive elections for its Governor and the Fono, which is the bicameral local legislature. While the matai system influences the selection process for the Senate, the House of Representatives is chosen by popular vote, ensuring a high degree of local accountability and representation. Judicial independence is upheld by the High Court of American Samoa, and civil liberties remain strongly protected under both territorial law and relevant provisions of the United States Constitution. Political discourse is active and pluralistic, with media outlets operating without government interference. The primary constraints on its index score relate to the lack of full voting representation in the United States Congress and the inability of residents to vote in federal presidential elections, rather than internal democratic deficiencies. Despite these jurisdictional limitations, the domestic political environment exhibits strong rule of law, peaceful transfers of power, and high levels of institutional transparency.
Last evaluation:
How we classify regimes →World Factbook
Country background
A concise introduction to American Samoa, together with notes on how power and law are organized, to put local ballots in context.
Tutuila -- the largest island in American Samoa -- was settled by 1000 B.C., and the island served as a refuge for exiled chiefs and defeated warriors from the other Samoan islands. The Manu’a Islands, which are also now part of American Samoa, developed a traditional chiefdom that maintained autonomy by controlling oceanic trade. In 1722, Dutch explorer Jacob ROGGEVEEN was the first European to sail through the Manu’a Islands, and he was followed by French explorer Louis Antoine DE BOUGAINVILLE in 1768.
Whalers and missionaries arrived in American Samoa in the 1830s, but American and European traders tended to favor the port in Apia -- now in independent Samoa -- over the smaller and less-developed Pago Pago on Tutuila. In the mid-1800s, a dispute arose in Samoa over control of the Samoan archipelago, with different chiefs gaining support from Germany, the UK, and the US. In 1872, the high chief of Tutuila offered the US exclusive rights to Pago Pago in return for US protection, but the US rejected this offer.
As fighting resumed, the US agreed to the chief’s request in 1878 and set up a coaling station at Pago Pago. In 1899, with continued disputes over succession, Germany and the US agreed to divide the Samoan islands, while the UK withdrew its claims in exchange for parts of the Solomon Islands. Local chiefs on Tutuila formally ceded their land to the US in 1900, followed by the chief of Manu’a in 1904.
The territory was officially named “American Samoa” in 1911. The US administered the territory through the Department of the Navy. In 1949, there was an attempt to organize the territory, granting it formal self-government, but local chiefs helped defeat the measure in the US Congress.
Administration was transferred to the Department of the Interior in 1951, and in 1967, American Samoa adopted a constitution that provides significant protections for traditional Samoan land-tenure rules, language, and culture. In 1977, after four attempts, voters approved a measure to directly elect their governor. Nevertheless, American Samoa officially remains an unorganized territory, and people born in American Samoa are US nationals rather than US citizens.