My primary concern is with tracing how the police force has been transformed from a secular
institution into an overtly religious one. Drawing from scholarly work on charismatic
leadership and its routinization in institutional forms, much of it inspired by Max Weber’s
early work on these themes, my overarching aim is to grapple with the significance of
Commissioner Teleni’s reforms not only for the Fiji police force but more broadly for the
shape of the Fijian state. While recognizing the acute importance of international relations in
establishing and supporting Fiji’s various political regimes, my focus here is firmly on the
domain of the nation-state as I wish to assess how politicians, military leaders, and now the
Commissioner of Police attempt to constitute mass public support through their use of
Christian rhetoric