Forms
Hawaiian sovereignty efforts vary in both defining the problem and proposing solutions. Among those who advocate for complete independence, proposals range from constitutional democracies in varying forms (some of which advocate reinstatement of aliʻi within their constitutions), to democratic anarchism. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) already exists as a state-sponsored commission but is generally not considered legitimate within sovereignty discourse. One controversial "nation-within-a-nation" proposal (similar to the status of Native American tribes) called the Akaka Bill has been repeatedly brought to the U.S. Senate by Daniel Akaka. This measure has been vociferously opposed by both sovereignty activists, who believe that it might be used to dismiss legal claims for independence, and by sovereignty opponents, who feel that it is "race-based" and therefore discriminatory against non-native residents of Hawaii.
Most, but not all, formal sovereignty proposals focus on short-range, interim governmental structures. Recognizing Hawaii's profound economic and political integration into the United States, some propose solutions developed incrementally with the approval of the United Nations. Since most groups are focused an international legal solution, many (but not all) proposed structures are based on the kingdom that existed in 1893. The logical basis is that undoing of the 1893 illegal occupation might legally necessitate a return to the pre-illegal-occupation government. Many groups include some long-range ideas in their proposals, but others focus upon the immediate problem of overcoming what they see as American occupation or colonization of the islands.
Read more about this topic: Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement
Famous quotes containing the word forms:
“Painting dissolves the forms at its command, or tends to; it melts them into color. Drawing, on the other hand, goes about resolving forms, giving edge and essence to things. To see shapes clearly, one outlines them—whether on paper or in the mind. Therefore, Michelangelo, a profoundly cultivated man, called drawing the basis of all knowledge whatsoever.”
—Alexander Eliot (b. 1919)
“[In government] the problem to be solved is, not what form of government is perfect, but which of the forms is least imperfect.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“I believe, as Lenin said, that this revolutionary chaos may yet crystallize into new forms of life.”
—Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1931)