Samoa is a unitary parliamentary republic in which village councils led by matai chiefs hold local authority. Most land is held under customary tenure, and a 2025 snap election produced a new government.
In the 12 Axes register, Samoa leans hardest on Militarist – Pacifist: Pacifist 83%; the register median is balanced 50%.
Take the test and this line shows how close your twelve scores are to Samoa, and the axis where you differ most.
Where Samoa sits on each of the twelve axes, in four categories. The label is our estimate; the line under it says why.
Unitary
Unitary, village councils hold local authority
Representative Democracy
Parliament elects head of state
Liberal
Constitution guarantees speech, assembly and association
Cooperation
Pacific Islands Forum member
Pacifist
No army, New Zealand treaty support
Centrist
Constitution bars sale of customary land
Mixed Economic
Most land held under customary tenure
Balanced
Customary land limits market economy
Moderate
Remittances, aid and tourism
Religious
Constitution declares Christian state
Traditionalist
Crimes Act 2013 criminalises male same-sex acts
Neutral
No distinct state stance
Set against the median of all 195 countries in the register.
Militarist – Pacifist
On Militarist – Pacifist, Samoa is at Pacifist 83%. The register median is balanced 50%.
Federal – Unitary
On Federal – Unitary, Samoa is at Unitary 68%, almost the register median of Unitary 68%.
Closeness is 100 minus the root-mean-square distance on all twelve axes.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · freedomhouse.org
Map: TUBS, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped and resized.
Last updated: 2026-10-15
The tiers on this page are our estimates from public positions and policies. They are not an official statement by the person or the government concerned. Two independent passes scored every axis and a third settled the differences. How the register works. Found a mistake? Write to [email protected].
