A fundamental concept of this study is that the basic element of determining the nature of a political culture is the kind of orientation towards authority which characterizes it. Parochial, subject, and participant cultures, as defined by Almond and Verba in their five-nation study, involved quite different kinds of authority orientations.

As a case study, this work involves the examination of the interacting influence of many variables, including the ecology of the traditional political culture, the influence of a succession of colonial rulers, and the impact of newly introduced political, economic, and cultural institutions.

It was found that these traditional attitudes do persist and are evident in the behavior of Micronesians in new political roles. There is considerable variance in the precise attitudes that prevail among the subcultures studied. Some of this variance is clearly related to the relative stages of development and acculturation among these groups. While the distribution of attitudes is influenced by culture, it is also influenced by education. The influences of education and culture tend to work in opposite directions.

The authority orientations which characterize traditional Micronesian society include attitudes of deference, avoidance, and obedience towards authority; consensus and avoidance of conflict in decision making; and subordination of the individual to the group. These are reinforced by diffuse sanctions of the whole community, including public disapproval, ridicule, and ostracism of offenders. These types of authority orientations are not conducive to trust in authority, nor to a sense of personal control over one's life space nor to a sense of political efficacy.

Almost by definition, a participant culture requires that a sense of political efficacy be rather widespread among the population. Political efficacy is the feeling that one's participation in the political process can be effective in influencing political decisions. According to Stanley Renshon, this sense of political efficacy depends on three factors. One is a sense of personal control over one's life space. The second is the sense that the political sphere is relevant to personal control. The third is the actual experience of participation, which the subject perceives as effective.

Although there are many broad similarities among the traditional cultures of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (Micronesia), a number of distinct subcultures exist among the many scattered island groups of the territory. These island groups, or subcultures, vary considerably in the extent to which they have experienced the forces of economic development and cultural change.

Because of the variation in traditional cultures and in relative development and acculturation, these islands offer a rich field for comparative study. Four island groups, which represent the range of variation, were selected for comparative treatment. These are the Northern Mariana Islands, Yap, the outer islands of Yap and Truk. Part I of the study deals with the common features of geography, history, culture, and political and economic development of the islands comprising the Trust Territory. Part II is a comparative study of the four named island groups.

This work is a case study of the political development of the island peoples of Micronesia under the trusteeship of the United States. The focus is on the ways in which aspects of the traditional cultures of Micronesia tend to persist and to influence the character of the adaptations of individual island cultures to the new, externally imposed, institutions.