ABSTRACT

Since democracy has become one of the most popular political ideologies in the world, many Pacific societies have become concerned with the introduction of political structures based, not only on descent, ascribed rank and chieftainship, but also on political charisma, popular elections and representative government. This chapter discusses several interpretations, usages and applications of the concept of democracy in Maori society. It focuses on seemingly inharmonious meanings of democracy, on the one hand, in counterhegemonic discourse arguing against the dominance of the European majority within the liberal-democratic New Zealand nation-state, and, on the other hand, in the debate about the recently reinforced position of tribal organizations, in which the need to elect representative or regional organizations to complement tribal organizations in semi-urban environments is advocated more frequently.