Pacific Islands Political Studies Association [SEP] inception
Pacific Islands Political Studies Association
The Pacific Islands Political Studies Association (PIPSA) is an unincorporated association established in Hawaii in 1987 at a meeting of scholars of the Pacific Islands who recognised the need to stimulate and coordinate research and other academic activities to develop our knowledge and understanding of the region. In its early years PIPSA was associated with Brigham Young University in Hawai'i, then the University of Guam, Monash University, the University of Canterbury, Christchurch NZ, and the University of the Sunshine Coast. There has been a commitment
Pacific Islands Political Studies Association (PIPSA) conference on 24 November 2005, Madraiwiwi described race relations as "a work in progress." He lamented the ethnic faultline that defines Fijian politics, a situation reinforced, he said, by what political parties thought the electorate wanted. The electoral system, in which almost two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives are chosen by voters registered on closed ethnic rolls, further reinforced this divide, he maintained. The result was that people retreated into their "ethnic fortresses"