The Marshall Islands are a small state with a political system that in several respects differs from the parliamentary democracies we know from Europe.
Legislative power rests with the Nitijela, a parliament with 33 members elected from 24 constituencies. The president is elected by parliament and serves as both head of state and head of government. The Constitution establishes that legislative power rests with the Nitijela.
But alongside this modern parliament is an institution that reaches back to the country’s traditional social structure.
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Council of Iroij consists of traditional chiefs and has its own place in the Constitution.
The deliberative council can express views on matters of importance to the republic and can require parliament to reconsider bills that concern customary law, traditional practices or land rights. This role is expressly established in the Constitution of the Marshall Islands.
The Marshall Islands Embassy in Washington describes the council as consisting of 12 traditional chiefs who advise the government and review legislation concerning, among other things, customary law and land tenure.
From a democratic perspective, this is interesting because the state has therefore not replaced all older structures of authority with modern elected institutions. Instead, it has incorporated them into the constitutional architecture as a direct-democratic function.
The Council of Iroij does not have the same legislative power as the Nitijela. But the council has a formalized role precisely in areas where tradition, kinship and land still matter greatly.
Land is perhaps the clearest example of how traditional and modern forms of society meet.
On most atolls, both land rights and traditional rank follow the maternal line. The US Department of State describes the system as matrilineal and also notes that the practical representation of land rights is often left to male family members.
This means that the expression “women own the land” captures something important, but not the whole system.
Land rights are also layered. A single area of land may have rights connected to several levels at the same time: the paramount chief, the leader of the clan or family line and those who actually use and work the land. US authorities have described how the same parcel of land can therefore have at least three separate rights holders.
This is far removed from the European idea of one property, one owner and one deed.
From a democratic perspective, the system shows how economic power, social status and political authority do not necessarily follow the same lines. Women hold a central position in the inheritance of land and rank, while men have traditionally often exercised visible authority on behalf of the family.
At the same time, it is important not to romanticize traditional structures simply because they are different.
Freedom House classifies the Marshall Islands as “Free” in 2026 and gives the country a score of 93 out of 100. The organization describes the country as a stable democracy with regular and competitive elections, independent courts and a free press.
At the same time, Freedom House points to weaknesses, including corruption, gender discrimination, domestic violence and human trafficking.
International IDEA points to another interesting issue: Many small Pacific states, including the Marshall Islands, fall entirely outside the organization’s global democracy index because it only includes countries with more than 250,000 inhabitants. IDEA also emphasizes that democracy in the Pacific region often combines modern institutions with local and Indigenous forms of representation and leadership that global democracy indices do not always capture well.
This makes the Marshall Islands a good example of why democracy cannot always be assessed simply by counting elections, parties and parliaments.
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The Marshall Islands also currently have a female president, Hilda Heine.
That may fit well with the picture of a matrilineal society, but the connection should not be overstated. Women’s traditional position in the land and kinship system has not automatically produced an equally strong representation in modern elected politics.
The interesting point lies precisely in the contrast: Women can hold central inheritance rights and traditional status while formal political power has historically been dominated largely by men.
The democracy of the Marshall Islands therefore shows how equality, tradition, representation and ownership can develop along different tracks.
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The international significance of the Marshall Islands does not stop with politics.
In 2026, the country’s ship registry is the world’s second largest measured by gross tonnage, with more than 6,650 vessels and over 221 million gross tons registered under the Marshall Islands flag. The registry is administered through the Republic of the Marshall Islands Maritime Registry.
Norwegian shipowners also use the flag to a significant extent. According to the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association’s fleet statistics, 104 Norwegian-controlled foreign-going vessels were registered in the Marshall Islands at the beginning of 2026. Only the Bahamas had more among the foreign flags used by Norwegian shipping companies.
This gives the small Pacific state a remarkable dual role: at home it combines modern parliamentary democracy with old kinship and land structures, while internationally it serves as the legal home of a significant share of the world’s merchant fleet.
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