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‘We’Not ‘I’
Consensus Makes Politics Work in Yap
By Giff Johnson
(Reprinted from Pacific Magazine, February 2005)

Yap to leave the Federated States of Micronesia?

It's inevitable, says veteran statesman John Mangafel. A commitment to old-style consensus building in these days when most modern political systems in the region are based on expedient political decision making by slim legislative majorities? Absolutely, says Mangafel. This is what is making Yap a political and economic success. Mangafel today is one of Yap's elder statesmen. Even when he was an elected leader, he was no ordinary politician. By western standards, few Yapese politicians would probably fit that profile, given this Micronesian state's propensity for consensus that usually results in knowing who will win elections before the vote is held. Even so, Mangafel is different. His down-to-earth style-he is usually clad in rubber slippers, a T-shirt and shorts, with a well-traveled betel nut bag clasped firmly under his arm-can lead those who don't know him to underestimate his acumen.


Mangafel has an impressive resume. One of the members of the early Congress of Micronesia-in the days when the Washington-appointed American Trust Territory High Commissioner was the law of the land-Mangafel went on to be a two-term governor of Yap, a national planner for the Federated States of Micronesia, and other high-level posts. But it's the quality of his thinking, not his resume, which accounts for Mangafel's sage advice being sought by many, from educators to politicians.
In an interview with Pacific Magazine, he offered observations about why education isn't working, how Micronesian identity is an essential ingredient to development and why Yap is, without a doubt, the economic success of the four-state FSM. And he predicts that Yap will ultimately leave the federation and join politically with Palau, its immediate neighbor to the south with which Yap has many historical, economic and family ties.

Yap has developed and maintained a political system firmly connected to its cultural
John Mangafel is a firm believer in the “wisdom of the betel nut basket,” a metaphor that is of significant relevance to Pacific Island governance. Photo: Giff Johnson
decision making process. In the Micronesian area, this small island group that has a population of fewer than 10,000 has both the strongest culture base and the best financial record coming out of the 17 years of the first Compact of Free Association with the United States. And that's not just because the financial and development record of some of the federation members, such as Chuuk, is dismal. Yap ended the first Compact in 2003 with $40 million invested for the future. "Every quarter, Yap took Compact money and put it in the bank," Mangafel says. "We take what we need and the rest earns interest."