Aloha | |||||||
| Anthem | "Hawaii's Own True Sons" | ||||||
| Capital (and largest city) |
Honolulu | ||||||
| Language official |
English | ||||||
| others | Hawaiian | ||||||
| Demonym | Hawaiian | ||||||
| Government | Constitutional Monarchy | ||||||
| Legislature | Parliament of Hawaii | ||||||
| Queen/King | Mauana Kamehameha | ||||||
| Population | 1,374,979 | ||||||
| Established | 2007 | ||||||
| Independence | from United States | ||||||
| Currency | Hawaiian Dollar | ||||||
The Republic of Hawaii is a island nation located in the Pacific Ocean. The nation was once it's own republic until it was a state in the United States of America for under 50 years, and it became a nation again when it bought it's freedom for two million dollars. The archipelago is (from the northwest to southeast) Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui and the island of Hawaiʻi. The nation reinstated some bloodline relatives from the old monarchy as Queen Mauana Kamehameha know rules over the country, but with limited to no power. The nation's real ruler is Prime Minister Daniel Akaka of the Island Progressive Party.
Politics of Hawaii
Seal of Hawaiian Parliament which was used in the former Hawaiian Kingdom.
Hawaiian House of Commons
Hawaii has a consitutional monarchy, which use to be the previous rule, which was instated with the nation's constitution in 2007. The nation is very progressive with universal health care, gay marraige and legalization of marijuana. The nation has only two levels of government, Federal and local, with a weak judicial branch. The Federal government is composed of a 65 member House of Commons elected every four years and the majority party appoints the ten member Cabinet and Prime Minister. The second level in Parliament is the House of Nobles which includes ten members elected from a party list, every eight years, appointed members from the Queen and approved by the Commons, and appointed one appointed member from the Polar Republic to show their care for each other, and one from the British Monarchy. The House of Nobles currently has 39 members, which was named after the former higher chamber during the last Monarchy rule. The Nobles is led by the High Noble Lord which leads the seven member cabinet of the government. The only other level is city councils which are give a good ammount of power due to only two levels of government. The nation is considering a referendum in 2013 to be allowed into the American Union.
Prime Ministers and Monarchs of Hawaii
There have been two Prime Ministers of Hawaii since the nation's founding in 2007. Long time politician Daniel Inouye was the first Prime Minister from the IPP and is regarded as a great founding father and shaped the country's progressive policies. Since his recent death, his friend Daniel Akaka has taken over as Prime Minister.
There has only been one monarch on the throne of Hawaii, Queen Muana Kamehameha which since being related to the former Monarch of Hawaii, was able to take the throne. She was 59 when she took the throne and is now 65. The Queen barley has any power other than participating in the Council of America and to propose bills the the House of Nobles.
| Monarch | Picture | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Queen Muana Kamehameha |   The Honorable Queen Kamehameha |
2007 - present |
Political Parties
Hawaiian House of Lords
There are four main political parties in the nation, the most dominant being the Island Progressive Party. The IPP is a loyalist (being pro Monarchy, and pro Nobles, while some want a more democratic Nobles), progressive party which was able to set up the nation's basic laws, and popular social reforms and was mostly unhurt in the recession.
Lords composition with the KP in Purple, IPP in light blue, CHP in dark blue
The Native Lands Party, active in most American countries, ended there attempt to gain seats after the first election and the major laws helping those Native people. The other three Parties are the Conservative Hawaii Party, Green Nature Party, and the King's Party. The Conservative Party, are Loyalists who support some Hawaii protectionism, and basic conservative values. The Green Nature Party, is a anti-monarchy, anti-nobles, which supoprts greater protection of the Hawaiian environment and progressive ideas. Although GNP members have been offered Nobleships in the Nobles, they choose not to accpet them. The King's Party, is a breakaway from the IPP, founded by an appointed Noble Henry Hio, which supports more socialistic values than the IPP and still suports the idea of a traditional Hawaiian monarchy. Since the founding of the KP more IPP Nobles have joined the Party due to lack of trust in the IPP Lord's leadership.
| Party | Spectrum | Leader (non-lords) | High Noble Lord | Seats in the House of Commons (65 in total) | Seats in the House of Nobles (39 in total) | (affiliated) AU Party | Local seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Island Progressive Party | loyalist, progressive, social liberalism | Daniel Akaka | Calvin Say | 49 | 21 | Social Democrats and Progressives | 308 |
| Conservative Hawaii Party | loyalist, conservative, protectionist, centrist (minor) | Sam Slom | Linda Lingle | 13 | 12 | American People's Party | 129 |
| Green Nature Party | environmentalist, anti-monarchy, anti-nobles progressive | Keiko Bonk | none | 3 | 0 | Green Activists | 38 |
| King's Party | Loyalist, socialism | Henry Hio | Henry Hio | 0 | 6 | Social Democrats and Progressives | 7 |
2007 General elections
In the 2007 General elections the newly founded Island Progressive Party was able to win a huge majority due to the demographics of the nation and the leadership of the IPP's members and appoint long time politician Daniel Inouye as Prime Minister. The nation was set in the right direction with high corporate and income tax, regulations and public spending in the Hawaiian Health Service (HHS) their publicly funded health care system, and made sweeping social reforms like gay marriage and legalization of marijuana. The nation's unemployment rate did increase to 6.1% in 2010, reaching its highest point before the 2011 elections but proved to being minimally harmful to the IPP.
| Party | Seats in the Commons (65 in total) | Elected nobles (10 in total) | Seats in the nobles (29 in total) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Island Progressive Party | 46 | 6 | 16 |
| Conservative Hawaii Party | 17 | 2 | 10 |
| Green Nature Party | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| King's Party | 0 | ^2 | 3 |
- ^two elected nobles from the IPP left to join the KP even though they were not elected with that party.
2011 Commons elections
In the 2011 Commons elections the IPP was able to gain seats due to the popularity of PM Inouye and the government's policies. The CP campaigned on repealing the HHS which was already popular, polls showing around 92% approval of the HHS. The IPP was able to appoint new nobles, institute new educational and welfare reforms, and set up new tax breaks for small businesses and overall tax breaks for corporations. The IPP passed a referendum in June 2012, with approval of the American Union Parliament 700-38, 57-4 in the Hawaiian Commons, and 29-10 in the Nobles, to allow the nation vote on full membership in January of 2013, on weather to join the AU. Opinion polls show favorably for full membership.
On December 17th, 2012, at age 88, Prime Minister Daniel Inouye died. A national funeral service was held the next day. On December 20th the IPP announced the party would appoint the deputy leader Daniel Akaka to finish out the Parliamentary term and hold a Deputy leadership contest.
| Party | Seats in the House of Commons (65 in total) | Seat Changes | Seats in the House of Nobles (39 in total) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Island Progressive Party | 49 | + 3 | 21 |
| Conservative Hawaii Party | 13 | - 4 | 12 |
| Green Nature Party | 3 | + 1 | 0 |
| King's Party | 0 | - | 6 |
Referendums
2013 American Union Referendum
Yes! logo
No! logo. With contrasting the colors No! uses Hawaiian colors, while Yes! uses AU flag colors.
A campaign promise of the Island Progressive Party was to have a referendum to allow entrance into the American Union. The IPP, which supports entrance to the AU, sent Prime Minister Inouye and his cabinet to the Council of America, a council of national executives which could propose laws to the AU Parliament. The Council sent the bill to the AUP to recognize the outcome of the referendum and agree to allow the nation to hold it by a vote of 700-38. Next the referendum was proposed to the Commons and approved 57-4, with all opposition coming from the Conservative Hawaii Party. In the Nobles, of the 39 of them, 29 voted 'aye' and 10 voted against, all in the Conservative Hawaii Party. The announcement of a referendum came on June 27th, 2012 that would be voted on as such "Will the Nation of Hawaii join the American Union, become a full, binding, member with elected members to represent the nation and hold those elections by the next AU elections in 2016." Quickly two campaigns came out trying to court the electorate, "Yes! For a Better Hawaii" and "No! For a Sound Hawaii". In the months that came opinion polls showed large support for the yes campaign with the IPP, Green Nature Party, and King's Party telling their party members to vote yes, while the Conservative Hawaii Party chose to stay neutral, which the IPP tried to exploit in showing weakness.
The referendum will take place January 14th.
| Date of opinion poll | Yes vote | No vote | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 30th, 2012 | 56% | 30% | 14% |
| July 10th, 2012 | 55% | 29% | 16% |
| July 19th, 2012 | 58% | 29% | 13% |
| August 5th, 2012 | 60% | 30% | 10% |
| August 28th, 2012 | 65% | 27% | 8% |
| September 10th, 2012 | 64% | 30% | 6% |
| September 20th, 2012 | 60% | 31% | 9% |
| October 2nd, 2012 | 62% | 32% | 6% |
| October 10th, 2012 | 60% | 31% | 9% |
| October 18th, 2012 | 62% | 30% | 8% |
| October 29th, 2012 | 62% | 29% | 9% |
| November 6th, 2012 | 63% | 29% | 8% |
| November 11th, 2012 | 65% | 26% | 9% |
| November 22th, 2012 | 67% | 25% | 8% |
| December 1st, 2012 | 70% | 25% | 5% |
| December 9th, 2012 | 67% | 25% | 8% |
| December 15th, 2012 | 70% | 24% | 6% |
| December 21st, 2012 | 72% | 22% | 6% |
| December 25th, 2012 | 75% | 20% | 5% |
2013 Monarchy Referendum
No - For a Free Hawaii logo
Yes! For a Traditional Hawaii logo
Apart of an agreement in 2007 after the Constitution was approved was to hold a referendum after six years on the status of the Royal family of Hawaii. The Monarchy has virtually no power, only cerimonial roles, but is paid about 5.9 million dollars a year for the Queen, King's there dependents and there children. That number is expected to rise as more people become related to the family and along with security and palace upkeep the total budget for the family is about 15.2 million dollars. The referendum date is set for April 9th, 2013 in which every citizen in the country can vote, which is different because usually the Monarch and Heridity Nobles can not vote in elections. The proposal for a referendum was supported by most parties, as the IPP was in government, the proposal was approved by the commons 65-0 and by the Nobles, 29-0. In September of 2012 early campaigning started for the Referendum with "Yes! For a Traditional Hawaii" being supported by the Island Progressive Party, (now defunct) Native Lands Party, Conservative Hawaii Party, and the split away from the IPP, the King's Party. Only supporting the "No - For a Free Hawaii" was the Green Nature Party, and the campaign was even headed by the GNP Vice President Kevin Neohaven. The people of Hawaii are generally happy with the new sense of renewed culture with a Hawaiian monarch and polls reflect the General approval of the Monarchy. A yes vote showed support for the Monarchy, a no vote showed support for the abolishment of the monarchy. For the Monarchy to stay, the Yes votes needed at least 55% support of the people, yet in every opinion poll yes votes around upwards of 70%.
| Date | Yes vote | No vote | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 1st, 2012 | 76% | 20% | 4% |
| (Of IPP members only) December 5th, 2012 | 68% | 25% | 7% |
| December 10th, 2012 | 75% | 20% | 5% |
| December 15th, 2012 | 77% | 20% | 3% |
| (Of CHP members only/of GNP members only) December 18th, 2012 | 95%/9% | 2%/90% | 3%/1% |
| December 20th, 2012 | 84% | 15% | 1% |
| December 25th, 2012 | 85% | 12% | 3% |
Leadership elections
There have been different important leadership elections for political parties around hawaii. Here are some of them:
2013 Deputy IPP leadership
Ambercrombie 2013 logo
The 2013 Deputy leadership election for the IPP, came after the sudden death to Former Prime Minister Daniel Inouye and the Deputy Prime Minister Daniel Akaka taking over to lead the country. A snap election was called for the Deputy position on December 20th, for January 24th to take place ten days after the by-election for Inouye's seat and the Referendum. On December 21st, nominations ended with three IPP members from the House of Commons entering the race with the IPP council sending out a letter to all there members: "Rest in Peace to Inouye. We all miss him. Aloha." Another listed the three members running for the Deputy position, Neil Ambercrombie (Minister for the Environment), Colleen Hanabusa (Minister for Hawaiian Culture), and Jack Usted (Backbencher, Committee Member for Taxes and Revenues, and Head of the Committee on Hawaiian Culture).
| Opinion Poll | Ambercrombie | Hanabusa | Usted | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 21st (by AUN) | 29% | 29% | 17% | 25% |
| December 21st (by Hawaiian Island News) | 30% | 27% | 10% | 33% |
| December 23rd (by AUN) | 30% | 30% | 15% | 25% |