Tradition versus democracy in the Kingdom of Tonga

Abstract

Until relatively recently, what struck most outside observers of Tonga's conservative sociopolitical structure was an image which exuded stability, contentment, and durability. The only remaining kingdom in the entire Pacific, Tonga had also been the only island country to escape formal colonization during the period of European expansion in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and was therefore spared the turbulence which has typically accompanied most moves to decolonization. It is widely accepted that Tonga's ability to remain independent had been achieved largely through the development of a unitary, centralized political system, presided over by an indigenous monarch, and which incorporated major elements of traditional sociopolitical organization. This system was entrenched through the promulgation in 1875 of a formal written constitution which established the monarchy and a landed nobility, and codified a set of principles and practices designed to sustain them as a ruling class,. The superimposition of certain Westminster-style institutions such as a prime minister, cabinet, legislature, judiciary, and electoral system, as well as a declaration of rights, gave the system some addition legitimacy in the European-dominated sphere of nineteenth century international politics, although these by no means added up to a democratic system of responsible government. The concentration of power in the hands of the monarch, and the extent of privilege granted to the nobility under the constitution, enshrined instead the basic principles associated with the descending thesis of government. In this respect, there is little doubt that the provisions of the 1875 constitution resonated very clearly with traditional Tongan sociopolitical notions concerning the proper locus of political authority and legitimacy.(First paragraph of Introduction).