The parliament elects a largely ceremonial head of state every five years; a limit of two terms was adopted through a 2019 constitutional amendment. By custom rather than constitutional requirement, the position is given to one of the country’s four paramount chiefs. In August 2022, parliament elected Tuimaleali‘ifano Va‘aletoa Sualauvi II for his second term as head of state, which will end in 2027.

The head of government is the prime minister, who must have the parliament’s support. In July 2021, following parliamentary elections, Fiame Naomi Mata‘afa of the FAST party began work as prime minister after the courts resolved a lengthy dispute over the legality of her swearing-in ceremony, which took place outside the parliament months earlier.

Under rules that took effect in 2021, the Legislative Assembly consists of 51 members elected in single-member constituencies. If less than 10 percent of the members elected by ordinary means are women, the highest-polling women candidates are declared elected until the required quota is reached. Elections are held every five years.

In the 2021 elections, the ruling Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) and the newly formed opposition FAST party both won 25 seats. The remaining seat was won by an independent candidate who decided to support FAST. However, the Office of the Electoral Commissioner announced that since 9.8 percent of the 51 parliamentarians were women, short of the required 10 percent, an extra seat would be given to the HRPP. Citing the supposed tie between the parties, the head of state called for fresh elections.

Both the electoral commissioner’s interpretation of the gender quota and the head of state’s effort to call snap elections were struck down by the Supreme Court in May 2021. The incumbent HRPP leadership refused to concede, and the outgoing speaker had the doors of the legislature locked, prompting FAST lawmakers to hold Mata‘afa’s impromptu swearing-in ceremony outside of the building. Her swearing-in was eventually upheld by the courts in July 2021.

FAST made further gains in November 2021 by-elections, solidifying its governing majority. FAST party members also won by-elections in February 2023 and September 2023, and the party held 35 of the legislature’s 53 seats at the end of 2023.

The constitutional and legal framework for elections is largely democratic and fairly implemented. However, only matai (family heads who hold honorific customary titles) are allowed to stand as candidates. There are currently at least 60,000 matai titles recognized by the Land and Titles Court, though individuals often hold multiple titles. Only about 2 percent of matai titleholders are women. Candidates are also subject to residency and traditional village service requirements. Before 1990 only matai could vote, but now all adult citizens over 21 years of age have the right to vote.

Legislation adopted in September 2021 allowed absentee voting within Samoa.

There are no major constraints on the formation and operation of political parties, but parties must win a minimum of eight seats to qualify for formal recognition within the legislature. The opposition Tautua Samoa Party (TSP) went from holding 13 seats to 2 after the 2016 elections, leaving the parliament with just one recognized party. However, several other parties registered in the years leading up to the April 2021 elections, including FAST in 2020, and the elections did not demonstrate any significant obstacles to party formation and competition.

A court case alleged that a February 2023 by-election won by Lautimuia Uelese Va‘ai of the FAST party was marred by bribery and vote-buying, but it was dismissed by the Supreme Court in May 2023.

There are no obvious obstacles that prevent the opposition from increasing its support and gaining power through elections. The former HRPP government, which had been in power since the 1980s, developed an effective campaign machinery during its incumbency, but it allowed multiple HRPP candidates to run in single districts in the 2021 elections, splitting its vote and facilitating opposition victories.

In 2020, two smaller opposition parties—Tumua ma Puleono and the Samoa National Democratic Party (SNDP)—announced that they would contest the 2021 elections as an alliance under the FAST banner. The opposition benefited from a number of preelection defections from the HRPP, including that of current prime minister Mata‘afa, who had served as a deputy prime minister until September 2020. Although the HRPP incumbents contested the FAST victory in 2021, the courts ultimately ensured a democratic transfer of power.

In March 2022, former prime minister Tuila‘epa Sa‘ilele Malielegaoi and several of his HRPP colleagues were found guilty of contempt of court for their conduct in the aftermath of the 2021 general election, but no penalty was imposed. Malielegaoi and the secretary of the HRPP were suspended from parliament in May 2022 over the charges, but the suspension was declared void by the Supreme Court that August. FAST used its majority in parliament to suspend them again for two years, on the same grounds, but in July 2023 the Supreme Court overturned those suspensions as well and reinstated the two opposition politicians.

Score Change: The score improved from 3 to 4 because the Supreme Court consistently blocked attempts by the parliamentary majority to remove two leading members of the opposition.

While voters and candidates are largely free from undue interference with their political choices, traditional village councils consisting of local leaders with matai titles exercise considerable influence through candidate endorsements. Those who use the electoral laws to challenge the councils’ preferred candidates in court have sometimes faced customary penalties, such as banishment.

While women and members of ethnic minority groups have full voting rights, individuals must hold a matai title to qualify as electoral candidates, meaning fewer women are eligible in practice. A sizeable minority of villages still do not allow women to hold matai titles, and few women participate in village council meetings. Individuals who are fa‘afafine—Samoans who are assigned male at birth but have a fluid or feminine gender identity—can also be matai, though to date they have generally not run as candidates in elections.

The 2016 elections marked the first application of the gender quota, which seeks to ensure that at least 10 percent of parliamentary seats are held by women. If fewer than that number are elected in normal constituency contests, unsuccessful women candidates with the most votes are awarded additional seats. One extra seat was added to the 2016 parliament, two were added after the 2021 by-elections, and a third was added because of a Supreme Court ruling in May 2022, though it was reversed on appeal in November.

The prime minister and cabinet determine and implement government policies without improper interference by outside groups. However, the FAST government initially encountered considerable resistance from the senior echelons of the public service, which had long worked closely with the HRPP.

The FAST government has also been constrained by a requirement that constitutional amendments be approved by a two-thirds vote. In December 2020, the previous HRPP government passed three pieces of legislation—the Constitution Amendment Act 2020, the Lands and Titles Court Act 2020, and the Judicature Act 2020—that greatly altered the legal standing of the Land and Titles Court and reduced the powers of the Supreme Court. The FAST government opposed those amendments, which were a central issue in the 2021 election campaign, but lacked the two-thirds majority required to overturn them in parliament. In January 2023, the FAST Minister of Justice and Courts Administration, Matamua Vasati Pulufana, declared that the government no longer intended to repeal the three constitutional amendments.

Independent entities, including the Office of the Ombudsman, the Public Service Commission, and law enforcement agencies, pursue allegations of corruption by public officials. Before it left office, the outgoing HRPP government increased spending on some of these agencies, including the Office of the Ombudsman and the Controller and Auditor General (CAG). The FAST government has continued those improvements, with the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the CAG receiving increased funding in the 2021-22 budget.

While the government generally operates with transparency, the effectiveness of the state auditing system remains the subject of public debate, and the country lacks a freedom of information law. Journalists report difficulties in getting the government to give them information .

Several public and privately owned print and broadcast news outlets operate in Samoa, and internet access has expanded rapidly in recent years. While press freedom is generally respected, politicians and other powerful actors have used libel or defamation suits to respond to critical remarks or stories about them. In 2017, the parliament passed legislation that reintroduced criminal libel, but in February 2023 police commissioner Auapa’au Logoitino Filipo called for the law to be repealed, saying it wasted police time.

Freedom of religion is constitutionally guaranteed and mostly respected in practice. However, a 2017 constitutional amendment shifted references to Samoa being a Christian nation from the constitution’s preamble to its body text, meaning it can potentially be used in legal action. There is strong societal pressure at the village level—including from village councils—to participate in the activities of the main local church.

The Samoan Law Society and the country’s ombudsman have expressed concern that 2020 constitutional amendments that removed the Land and Titles Court from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court will limit religious freedom, since the Supreme Court can no longer review decisions on village customary matters that violate individual rights.

There are no significant restrictions on academic freedom.

Most Samoans face no serious practical constraints on private discussion or the expression of personal views, though the threat of criminal defamation charges remains a problem for some prominent critics of the government or of powerful individuals.

Freedom of assembly is protected by law and respected in practice.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including human rights groups, operate freely, though the civil society sector in Samoa remains relatively small and underfunded.

Workers have the right to form and join trade unions, bargain collectively, and strike. Multiple unions exist, representing both public- and private-sector employees. The Samoa Workers Congress (SWC) is an umbrella body for all workers’ unions.

Union members’ rights are governed by the constitution and the 2013 Labour and Employment Relations Act; the latter recognizes unions and employees’ roles and rights, the right to collective bargaining, and rights to maternity and paternity leave, and mandates the establishment of a National Tripartite Forum, which provides for workers’ benefits and consults on employment policies and conditions. However, some cultural factors hinder the ability of workers and unions to pursue their rights.

Samoa has ratified the International Labour Organization’s eight fundamental conventions.

The judiciary is independent, as demonstrated by its rulings during the postelection crisis in 2021. The head of state, on the recommendation of the prime minister, appoints the chief justice of the Supreme Court. Other Supreme Court judges are appointed by the head of state on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission, which is chaired by the chief justice and includes the attorney general and a Justice Ministry appointee. Judges typically serve until they reach retirement age and cannot be removed arbitrarily.

The three reform bills adopted in December 2020 featured several provisions that could undermine judicial independence and the rule of law. One component allows the head of state, on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission, to dismiss Supreme Court judges; this had previously required a two-thirds vote in the parliament, which is still required to remove the chief justice. The legislation also separates the judicial system into two distinct and potentially conflicting structures, with one, headed by the Supreme Court, handling civil and criminal matters and the other, the Land and Titles Court, overseeing customary matters including communal land. The Land and Titles Court would have its own appellate body, and individuals would no longer be able to appeal its decisions to the Supreme Court.

The impasse over the legal status of the Land and Titles Court rendered the court unable to validate new judicial and administrative appointments, and Lands and Titles Court judges were obliged to step down in March 2023 in order to be reappointed under a new legislative framework.

The authorities generally observe due-process safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention, and the courts provide defendants with the conditions necessary for a fair trial. However, village councils settle many disputes, and their adherence to due-process standards varies; they have the authority to impose penalties including fines and banishment.

December 2020 reforms appeared to eliminate individuals’ ability to appeal village council decisions to the Supreme Court, raising doubts about how conflicts between customary communal authority and the constitutional rights of individuals would be resolved. In September 2023, the Land and Titles Court reinstated a matai titleholder who had been banished from his village, avoiding a potential appeal that might, under the former legislative framework, have gone to the Supreme Court.

Violent crime rates are relatively low. Police officers are occasionally accused of physical abuse. Prisons lack adequate resources, resulting in poor conditions including overcrowding, as well as breakdowns in security.

The constitution prohibits discrimination based on descent, sex, religion, and other categories. The Labour and Employment Relations Act also prohibits discrimination against employees on such grounds as ethnicity, race, color, sex, gender, religion, political opinion, sexual orientation, social origin, marital status, pregnancy, HIV status, and disability. However, these protections are enforced unevenly. In practice women face some discrimination in employment and other aspects of life, and same-sex sexual activity remains a criminal offense for men. Ethnic Chinese residents at times encounter societal bias and restrictions on the location of their businesses.

Fa‘afafine were previously subject to a rarely enforced provision in the criminal code that prohibited the “impersonation” of a woman. A 2013 amendment removed that provision, but fa‘afafine and other gender-diverse Samoans continue to face a degree of societal discrimination in practice.

While there are few constraints on freedom of movement, village councils still occasionally banish individuals from their communities as a penalty for serious violations of their bylaws.

Private business activity is encouraged, and property rights are generally protected. However, roughly 80 percent of the country’s land is communally owned, meaning it is overseen by matai titleholders and other village leaders. The rest consists of freehold and state-owned land.

While personal social freedoms are generally not restricted by law, domestic violence against women and children is a serious problem. The Crimes Act of 2013 made spousal rape a crime, and the Family Safety Act of 2013 empowers the police, public health officials, and educators to assist victims of domestic violence. Nevertheless, many victims do not report abuse due to strong social biases and fear of reprisal.

Individuals generally enjoy equality of opportunity and fair working conditions. However, most adults engage in subsistence agriculture, and local custom obliges residents to perform some labor on behalf of the community; those who fail to do so can be compelled.