A Political Science professor from the University of Guam is in Palau for a two-week stay to conduct a study about the different kinds of electoral systems in Palau, Saipan, Guam and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).
University of Guam Political Science Associate Professor Arun Swamy, said in an interview with Island Times on Sunday that he is interviewing legislators and other elected officials here in Palau to know how they respond to different kinds of electoral system.
The study is an individual research project that is funded by the University of Guam, according to Professor Swamy.
“The ways in which people are elected are different in each place and so how does that influence the way in which officials campaign? And how the relationships between elected officials and constituents can be influenced by the type of elections?” Swamy said when asked about what his study is all about.
According to the professor, the immediate observations he had relating to his study is that legislators talked about the importance of personal contact.
“Personal ties are very important which is not surprising with a small island,” Swamy said.
The professor also noted that Palau’s election is different in the sense that there is no political party here.
Swamy had been teaching Political Science for years and he acquired his PhD in 1996 at the University of Guam. (Rhealyn C. Pojas)