A selection of essays about the constitutional crises throughout the Commonwealth since the Second World War, from Australia, Ceylon, Pakistan, Nigeria, Fiji, India, Grenada, Malaysia and Canada, which examines, in particular, the role and involvement of the Governor-General.

This book examines how the Crown has performed as Head of State across the UK and post war Commonwealth during times of political crisis. It explores the little-known relationships, powers and imperial legacies regarding modern heads of state in parliamentary regimes where so many decisions occur without parliamentary or public scrutiny. This original study highlights how the Queen’s position has been replicated across continents with surprising results. It also shows the topicality and contemporary relevance of this historical research to interpret and understand crises of governance and the enduring legacy of monarchy and colonialism to modern politics. This collection uniquely brings together a diverse set of states including specific chapters on England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Brunei, Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe/Rhodesia, Australia, Tuvalu, and the Commonwealth Caribbean. Viceregalism is written and conceptualised to remind that the Crown is not just a ceremonial part of the constitution, but a crucial political and international actor of real importance.

Examines the relationship between the British government, the Palace, and the modern Commonwealth since 1945 and argues that the monarchy's relationship with the Commonwealth, which was initially promoted by the UK as a means of strengthening imperial ties, increasingly became an impediment to British foreign policy.

Before the independence referendum in 2014, the First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond promised a written constitution for Scotland in the event of a 'Yes' vote. The UK is almost unique in having never adopted a written constitution or other fundamental law. Why did this commitment arise in Scotland?

The modern British Commonwealth, linking fifty countries around the world in voluntary association, cooperation, and consultation, is a unique body in world history. The area of its member countries covers a third of the globe and collectively their peoples represent a quarter of the world's total population. Though essentially different from the British Empire from which it originated, the Commonwealth shares many common historical ties with Britain. Patricia M. Larby and Harry Hannam have assembled an unrivaled body of literature to illustrate the growth of the Empire into the Commonwealth. This extensive bibliography identifies, lists, and annotates the most important publications on the development and growth of the Commonwealth; its present status and functions; and its role in education, literature, sport, and the arts and sciences. It includes its historical origins: its cooperation in economics, politics, and international issues such as the environment; and its many spheres of professional activity including medicine, law, and architecture. Strong emphasis is placed on the role of the English language in the Commonwealth and as a medium for creative literature in many disparate cultures worldwide. "The Commonwealth "appears at a time when this unique organization is on the threshold of a new era in its history. The proposals emerging from the 1991 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting include statements on democracy and human rights; environmental affairs; and global concerns such as international crime, drug abuse, and AIDS. No previous comprehensive bibliography of the Commonwealth exists, and this volume fills a long-standing gap in the bibliographical coverage. It will be an essential reference source for libraries and scholars involved in Commonwealth studies and will be of particular interest to historians, political scientists, economists, and educators.

In nineteenth-century settler colonies such as Upper Canada, New South Wales and New Zealand, governors not only administered, they stood at the head of colonial society and ordered the festivities and ceremonies around which colonial life centred. Governors were expected to be repositories of political wisdom and constitutional lore. Governors and Settlers explores the public and private beliefs of governors such as Sir Thomas Brisbane, Sir John Colborne, Sir George Grey and Lord Elgin as they struggled to survive in colonial cultures which both deified and vilified their personal qualities.

Liberal Ideals and the Politics of Decolonisation explores the subject of liberalism and its uses and contradictions across the late British Empire, especially in the context of imperial dissolution and subsequent state- building. The book covers multiple regions and issues concerning the British Empire and the Commonwealth, in particular the period ranging from the late-nineteenth century to the late- twentieth century. Original intellectual contributions are offered along with new arguments on critical issues in imperial history that will appeal to a wide range of scholars, including those outside of history. Liberal Ideals and the Politics of Decolonisation exposes commonalities, contradictions and contexts of different types of liberalism that animated the late British Empire and its rulers, radicals, subjects and citizens as they attempted to forge new states from its shadow and understand the impact of imperialism. This book examines the complexities of the idea and quest for self-government in the last stages of the British Empire. It also argues the importance of the political, intellectual and empirical aspects of liberalism to understand the process of decolonisation. The chapters in this book were originally published in a special issue of The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History.