Asia & Oceania

Samoa

Political journey

The first Pacific island nation to become independent, from New Zealand in 1962, Samoa is a parliamentary democracy shaped by Christianity and the matai chiefly system. The Human Rights Protection Party governed for nearly four decades until the FAST party took power in 2021. Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt became prime minister after the 2025 election.

Samoa today

Its current leader’s position on the ten Caucus dimensions.

💰EconomyCentered on economy
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityLeaning authoritarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureStrongly traditional
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationLeaning nationalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentLeaning nature-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologySlightly tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceCentered on war and peace
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsSlightly institutional
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionStrongly religious
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismSlightly non-interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

Who leads Samoa today

Portrait of Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt

Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt

Prime Minister of Samoa, 2025 to present

A businessman and former speaker who founded the FAST party, whose name means “faith in the one God, Samoa”, and won the 2025 election on a promise of change.

Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt sits in the right-authoritarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: centered on economy and leaning authoritarian. The clearest positions are strongly religious on religion, strongly traditional on culture and leaning nature-first on environment. The profile is close to the middle on economy and war and peace.

Full profile of Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt →

Political views closest to Samoa’s leadership

Green conservatismSees protecting land, beauty and heritage as conservative values.98%Christian democracyBlends Christian social teaching, a social market economy and European cooperation.98%One-nation conservatismA paternalist conservatism holding that the better off owe duties to the poor and to…97%Social conservatismDefends the traditional family, religion and moral norms in law and society.97%

Countries with similar leadership

Ranked by how close their current leaders are on the ten dimensions.

KiribatiAsia & Oceania99%TongaAsia & Oceania99%Solomon IslandsAsia & Oceania99%GambiaAfrica & Middle East99%

Country histories are short summaries. Positions are simplified estimates of the leaders included in Caucus as of October 2026, and percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions.