| Abstract: | With constitutional change playing an important role in the evolving political status of the small Pacific island state of Tuvalu, island leaden seeking to protect its indigenous culture and values adopted a new constitution in 1986, eight years after independence. The document's commitment to the Tuvaluan way of life challenges aspects of the democratic ethos, as its phrasing* resonate more closely with Tuvalu's values and nationalism than with Western concepts of individual entitlement. Although divisions persist within the Pacific over the role of custom and tradition in political and legal affairs, developments in Tuvalu suggest one approach for states grappling with comparable political and cultural concerns. |
