Hawaiian Kingdom is the Best Series: About the Hawaiian Government - a Constitutional Monarchy Since Kamehameha III - Kauikeaouli

     From the time of Kamehameha III – Kauikeaouli:

“The Hawaiian Government was not established by the people; the Constitution did not emanate from them; they were not consulted in their aggregate capacity or in convention, and they had no direct voice in founding either the Government or the Constitution.  King Kamehameha III, originally possessed in his own person, all the attributes of absolute sovereignty.  Of his own free will he granted the Constitution of 1840, as a boon to his country and people, establishing his Government upon a declared plan or system, having reference not only to the permanency of his Throne and Dynasty, but to the Government of his country according to fixed laws and civilized usage, in lieu of what may be styled the feudal, but chaotic and uncertain system, which previously prevailed.  The recognition of his independence by the great powers of Christendom; the claims of commerce; the influx of foreigners, and the gradual advancement of his native subjects, rendered necessary still further changes.  The Government had to be regularly organized, the different powers separated and defined, and the whole land system of the Kingdom to be remodeled.  The first Constitution no longer furnished a sufficiently broad foundation.  The King, by and with the advice and consent of the Nobles and the House of Representatives, voluntarily granted and proclaimed the present Constitution on the 14^th of June, 1852.  As before, the people at large were not consulted, and they performed no direct part in the adoption of the Constitution.  That instrument was framed and sanctioned by the legislative body, consisting of the King, the House of Nobles and the House of Representatives, in whom, collectively, is now vested that supreme, absolute power of legislation, which was originally vested in the Monarch alone.  Not a particle of power was derived from the people.”

There are three parts to the Hawaiian Government:  (1) Sovereign – heirs and successors – Permanent part; (2) House of Nobles – heirs and successors – Permanent part; and (3) House of Representatives – Temporary voted in part by the people.

Kamehameha III’s Constitution of 1840 “permanently confirms the Kingdom of Kamehameha III, and his heirs”.