Political scientist in print

ONE of Papua New Guinea’s leading political scientist Dr Alphonse Gelu has authored a chapter in a book entitled Pacific Ways: Government and politics in the Pacific with Dr Stephen Levine.
Dr Levine is a professor of political science at Wellington’s Victoria University.
The book was written in 2006 and published late last year by the Victoria University Press.
The book covers the system of government in all the Pacific states including Australia and New Zealand and the territories and small islands.
The chapter on Papua New Guinea, which Dr Gelu authored, looks at government systems, elections and political parties, the Constitution and provincial governments.
“It looks at each of these processes and institutions and how they have evolved over time,” Dr Gelu said.
Dr Levine said: “Literature on the politics of the Pacific Islands remains much slimmer than for other regions.”
The book aims to establish a balance by providing information for the Pacific that is readily available for other nations. 
Dr Gelu, a senior research fellow at the National Research Institute, said the process of globalisation had made the world smaller and PNG had become an integral part of the world.
As such, the book aims to inform the world about the region through the specific topics, he said.
“This book is an up to date publication that would be of interest to policy makers, academics and students,” he said.