The Expanding Commonwealth”

anyone who last took part in a discussion of this sort ten years ago, the most striking thing about it is the extraordinarily increased complexity of the subject. The unifying factors have grown fewer and weaker, the divisive factors more numerous and stronger. Ten years ago, there was the crown: every Commonwealth country was a monarchy under a single king. Now, though the Queen is still Head of the Commonwealth, she has completely disappeared from the government of three of the ten memberstates: two are republics and a third is an elective monarchy under a sovereign of its own choosing. Three other memberstates have declared their intention of becoming republics. Only the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand retain the old monarchy as a permanent feature of their government. Ten years ago, there was parliament: every Commonwealth country had one. Now one of them is a military dictatorship and in two others the institution has been seriously eroded. Ten years ago, there was the rule of law: every Commonwealth country subscribed to it. Now it has disappeared in one, is seriously threatened in another and is fighting for its life in a third

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