Abstract: The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was designed to manage the collapse of the Soviet Union and foster post-Soviet cooperation in political, economic, and security spheres. Over a decade into its existence, most analysts would rate it a failure: many post-Soviet states do not participate in CIS ventures, the institutional machinery of the CIS is weak, and Russia, the most dominant post-Soviet state, has tended to favour bi-lateral relationships over multi-lateral institutions. Why is this the case? This article looks at the CIS through the prism of theories of regionalism, demonstrating that the CIS was handicapped on many fronts, including emergent multi-polarity in the post-Soviet space and domestic-level political considerations in many post-Soviet states.

Abstract: 1. International Organizations in Regional Security 2. African Union (AU) 3. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) 4. Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) 5. Southern African Development Community (SADC) 6. Organization of American States (OAS) 7. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 8. Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) 9. League of Arab States (LAS) 10. Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) 11. European Union (EU) 12. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 13. Conclusions

Abstract: This paper discusses the utility of the term ‘Britishness’ in the context of the ‘British World’ conference series. It suggests reasons why the ‘British world’ idea as presently understood was relatively slow to emerge out of traditional nineteenth- and twentieth-century imperial and commonwealth history. Ranging over more than a century from the 1870s to the present, it surveys uses of the term ‘British’ in imperial historiography and draws most of its empirical evidence from the unusual case of South Africa. The paper eschews ‘ethnic’ or ‘racial’ definitions of Britishness and proposes instead a more capacious formulation capable of including elective, hyphenated forms of belonging. It suggests that there are advantages in thinking of the British Empire less in the possessive sense – the empire that belonged to Britain – and more in the adjectival mode as a mode of description capable of taking into account self-declared affinities and values.

Abstract: The Commonwealth's assumption of greater control over water policy has been justified on the grounds that a 'national approach' to the problems in the Murray-Darling Basin is required to resolve the ills of the Basin This paper investigates the validity of this contention in the context of the Federal government's 'Water for the Future' manifesto The paper argues that the current naive understanding of 'water use efficiency' concepts is likely to stymie any purported basin-wide gains from a 'national approach' to water policy

Abstract: As the United States resumes debate over options for achieving universal health coverage, policymakers are once again examining insurance systems in other industrialized countries. More recent attention has focused on countries that combine universal coverage with private insurance and regulated market competition. Switzerland and the Netherlands, in particular, have drawn attention for their use of individual mandates combined with public oversight of insurance markets. This paper provides an overview of the Swiss and Dutch insurance systems, which embody some of the same concepts that have guided health reforms adopted in Massachusetts and considered by other states and by federal policymakers. The two systems have many features in common: an individual mandate, standardized basic benefits, a tightly regulated insurance market, and funding schemes that make coverage affordable for lowand middle-income families. Differences include degree of centralization, basis of competition among insurers, availability of managed care, and reliance on patient cost-sharing to influence care-seeking behavior. Support for this research was provided by The Commonwealth Fund. The views presented here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Commonwealth Fund or its directors, officers, or staff. This and other fund publications are available online at www.commonwealthfund.org. To learn more about new publications when they become available, visit the Fund’s Web site and register to receive e-mail alerts. Commonwealth Fund pub. no. 1220.

Abstract: Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Fortescue's world 2. St German's world 3. Reformation and the body politic 4. Commonwealth and common law 5. Puritanism and Anglicanism 6. James, kingship, and religion 7. Law, politics, and Sir Edward Coke 8. The constitutionalist revolution Epilogue.

Abstract: By analysing original sources and evaluating conceptual frameworks, this book discusses the idea proclaimed in the Preamble to the Constitution that Australia is a federal commonwealth. Taking careful account of the influence which the American, Canadian and Swiss Constitutions had upon the framers of the Australian Constitution, the author shows how the framers wrestled with the problem of integrating federal ideas with inherited British traditions and their own experiences of parliamentary government. In so doing, the book explains how the Constitution came into being in the context of the groundswell of federal ideas then sweeping the English-speaking world. In advancing an original argument about the relationship between the formation of the Constitution, the representative institutions, configurations of power and amending formulas contained therein, light is shed on the terms and structure of the Constitution and a range of problems associated with its interpretation and practical operation are addressed.

Abstract: In Confusion, some of Australia's foremost political historians including Judith Brett and Stuart Macintyre revisit the seminal moment when liberals threw in their lot with the conservatives. In May 1909, Alfred Deakin, the radical liberal doyen, struck an agreement for a controversial 'fusion' with the anti-Labor factions, with the new grouping later adopting the name 'Liberal Party'. After a heated campaign, Labor won the 1910 election, forming the first majority government in the history of the Commonwealth. The Australian party system--as we still largely know it one hundred years on--had crystallised. How had this occurred? For most of the previous decade Labor and Deakin had been allies. Was the anti-Labor alliance the inevitable outcome of middle-class men rallying against the growing electoral might of the workers' party? What were the long-term consequences for both sides of politics? With Labor in power federally and in all but one state, the non-Labor side of politics has been plunged into a period of introspection about its coalition arrangements, and about the legitimate traditions of Australian liberalism. Can the current Liberals learn from the events of a century ago?

Abstract: Among the 52 member states of the Commonwealth, 28 have populations below two million. Small states thus comprise over half of the total. Within the group, most are at the lower end of the population scale: 22 have populations below one million, and 13 have populations below 250,000. The Commonwealth gives special attention to small states, and the Commonwealth Secretariat has taken a leadership role in identifying their distinctive features. At the same time, contexts and modalities have changed significantly over the decades. Most obvious have been the opportunities and challenges of globalisation. The internet has significantly reduced the isolation of small states, and has given opportunities to access expertise that could not previously have been imagined. Technological advances have facilitated forms of collaboration, such as the Virtual University for the Small States of the Commonwealth. The cross-national interconnectedness in this era of globalisation also brings challenges. Many small ...

Abstract: This paper investigates the implications of the 2008 financial crisis on welfare states and the capitalist diversity in the post-communist world, including Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It analyzes three political-economic varieties in the region: those of capitalism, welfare, and vulnerabilities to the crisis. The three varieties are linked, but there is also a considerable variation given the importance of political and policy factors. Economic growth models created different political and economic constraints on policies of adjustment to the crisis. In particular, currency substitution was associated with strong political preferences for defending exchange rates, with adjustment through reductions in public spending and wages. A variety of welfare models was associated with different political constituencies for welfare provision. The interplay of these constraints and political factors together with intervention of international institutions shapes the nature of welfare state adjustments. Early developments indicate also some unexpected outcomes.

Abstract: The first attempt by Europeans to settle in the area that eventually became the state of Victoria, Australia, was led by Colonel David Collins in 1803. Melbourne was founded in 1835, and after the discovery of gold in 1851 became the financial centre of Australia. This authoritative two-volume history of the state's first century, published in 1904 by the banker Henry Gyles Turner (1831–1920), is based on parliamentary records and information from leading political figures with whom the author was personally acquainted. Volume 1 traces Victoria's development from its early settlement to its establishment as an independent colony and the discovery of gold. It explores the region's progress and the challenges it faced as the gold rush led to overpopulation, high living costs, and mining disputes. The book gives first-hand insights into a time of rapid political, social and economic change.

Abstract: 1. Introduction Campbell Sharman and Jeremy Moon 2. The Commonwealth Patrick Weller and Jenny Fleming 3. New South Wales Rodney Smith 4. Queensland John Wanna 5. South Australia Andrew Parkin 6. Tasmania Aynlsey Kellow 7. Victoria Nicholas Economou and Brian Costar 8. Western Australia Jeremy Moon and Campbell Sharman 9. Australian Capital Territory John Warhurst 10. Northern Territory Dean Jaensch 11. One System or Nine? Campbell Sharman and Jeremy Moon.

Abstract: This article focuses on the Commonwealth and other mainly Anglophone countries in East and Central Africa. This is an area that has tended to be neglected in recent discourse and debate. The relationship between accountability and record keeping systems is a major theme. Other challenges that have emerged over the last half century are analysed and commented on. An attempt is made to place developments in a wider political and economic context. In addition, the question is posed whether transformation discourses generated in post-Apartheid South Africa ‘fit’ with the experiences of countries north of the Limpopo. A great many setbacks and obstacles to success are described. The focus, however, is on identifying paths to progress rather than surrendering to cynicism.

Abstract: A Dissertation presented to the Institute of Distance Learning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Commonwealth Executive Master of Business Administration (CEMBA), 2009

Abstract: The Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC) was conceived by ministers at their triennial Conference of Commonwealth Ministers of Education in 2000. The Commonwealth of Learning was asked to investigate possible models, and presented a proposal to ministers at their next conference in 2003. The concept of a virtual university as a network was approved and the Commonwealth of Learning was asked to help countries collaborate and strengthen the capacity of national education institutions through this mechanism. The concept of sharing course materials and programmes was a fundamental principle from the start and gained momentum as the trend to open courseware and Open Educational Resources developed. The VUSSC uses a range of materials that conform to different Creative Commons copyright licences, all of which allow the free reuse and, usually, customisation of materials. The VUSSC works with governments and national institutions, many of which have established national qualification f...

Abstract: The entry of Japanese forces into Southeast Asia in 1940 and 1941, now generally identified as one of the vital causes of the Pacific War, and the following Japanese interregnum in the region during the war have been the focus of a considerable volume of studies. In particular, the causation and motivation behind Japanese expansion into Southeast Asia has been a matter of much historiographical and public debate in recent years. This thesis aims to clarify the goals behind Japanese policy and explore how it evolved both prior to and during the war, and how it in turn affected British policy. This study explores these subjects with particular focus on the following issues. It examines how the idea of building a 'Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere' developed as the rationale for Japanese policy and to what extent the Japanese pre-war and wartime policy to nurture nationalist aspirations in Southeast Asia was driven by the ideological claims behind this concept. It also assesses how the Japanese southern expansion and the following occupation influenced British policy towards Southeast Asia, where Britain faced the rise of a number of active nationalist movements. These questions considered at the general level are also examined through a case study of Burma which provides an interesting example for the analysis of the real motives and intentions behind Japanese policy as well as for studying its impact on British policy planning to maintain its presence in the region.

Abstract: 1. 'Regions' and their study: where from, what for and whereto? Rick Fawn 2. Regional hierarchies: authority and local international order David A. Lake 3. When security community meets balance of power: overlapping regional mechanisms of security governance Emanuel Adler and Patricia Greve 4. Between the revisionist state and the frontier state: regional variations in state war-propensity Benjamin Miller 5. The resurgence of the 'region' and 'regional identity': theoretical perspectives and empirical observations on regional dynamics in Europe Anssi Paasi Case Studies: 6. The contradictions of regionalism in North America Ann Capling and Kim Richard Nossal 7. Latin America: contrasting motivations for regional projects Diana Tussie 8. The new East Asian regionalism: much ado about nothing? John Ravenhill 9. The southern African security order: regional economic integration and security among developing states James J. Hentz 10. The commonwealth of independent states: an example of failed regionalism? Paul Kubicek.

Abstract: Beginning in the early nineteenth century, the Nizari Ismailis, once a small, legendary sect within Islam, grew to become a highly organized temporal and religious movement exerting far-ranging political and economic influence. A significant part of this shift was due to an increase in diplomatic relations between the British Empire, and later the British Commonwealth, and the Nizari Ismaili movement. Yet these interactions have never been seriously studied, subjecting a crucial component of Islamic history to conjecture and misinformation. Based on extensive archival research, Marc van Grondelle examines the events that led to the modernization and successful cooptation of this comparatively minor branch of Shi'a Islam. He raises several key questions regarding the interaction between movements in contomporary Islam and the West. Particularly significant is his discussion of how the British government effectively coopted a Muslim group for the group's own benefit, as well as the benefit of British foreign and colonial policy. Van Grondelle investigates the actions that shaped the Ismailis' relationship with London and the social and political conditions that determined their later contact. He also examines how this strange coexistence fully matured, considering some of the personal, institutional, and cultural complications that upset a delicately evolving relationship.

Abstract: To the Honorable the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia A Memorial and Remonstrance We the subscribers, citizens of the said Commonwealth, having taken into serious consideration, a Bill printed by order of the last Session of General Assembly, entitled “A Bill establishing a provision for Teachers of the Christian Religion,” and conceiving that the same if finally armed with the sanctions of a law, will be a dangerous abuse of power, are bound as faithful members of a free State to remonstrate against it, and to declare the reasons by which we are determined. We remonstrate against the said Bill, 1. Because we hold it for a fundamental and undeniable truth, “that Religion or the duty which we owe to our Creator and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence” [Virginia Declaration of Rights, art. 16]. The Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate. This right is in its nature an unalienable right. It is unalienable, because the opinions of men, depending only on the evidence contemplated by their own minds cannot follow the dictates of other men: It is unalienable also, because what is here a right towards men, is a duty towards the Creator.

Abstract: * Origins of Criminal Justice in Anglo-Saxon England * Saxon Dooms - Our Early Laws * The Norman Influence & The Angevin Legacy * Criminal Law In Medieval & Early Modern England * The Common Law in Danger * The Commonwealth * The Whig Supremacy and Adversary Trial * The Jury in the Eighteenth Century * Punishment & Prisons * Nineteenth Century Crime & Policing * Victorian Images * A Century of Criminal Law Reform * Criminal Incapacity * A Revolution in Procedure * Early Twentieth Century * Improvement After World War II * Twenty-First Century Regression? * The Advent of Restorative Justice * Conclusion * Select Bibliography

Abstract: Two European geographers and an economist analyze the impact of the 2008-2009 global economic recession on remittances in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Drawing on balance-of-payments data as well as information on money transfers to and from the region, they detail the annual growth of remittances since 2001, illustrating the growing importance of this income stream to a number of countries in the region. Using quarterly data, they then provide details of the impact of the financial crisis on remittances starting with the 2007 credit crunch and intensifying with the collapse of global markets in 2008. Based on the impact of the 1998 Russian Crisis, they suggest that by 2012, remittances to the region could fall to only one-third the 2008 level, and that a return to pre-crisis levels of remittances could take almost a decade. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F220, F240, J610, O180. 4 figures, 6 tables, 47 references.

Abstract: This background note focuses on citizenship within the context of Commonwealth legislation and does not attempt an analysis of the meaning of Australian citizenship or different theories of citizenship. Image: billh18 / Flickr

Abstract: The last decade has seen increasing attention to institutional arrangements and policy outcomes affecting the governance of the world's seas and oceans. Governance is linked to institutional capacity and to the effectiveness of public organizations drawing attention to tools and approaches underpinning effective and efficient institutional arrangements. Australia has taken a high profile in oceans governance, with international actions matched by the development of a number of national initiatives including a national Oceans Policy. Australia has numerous laws and policy instruments addressing aspects of the management of the marine environment, reflecting the federal nature of this policy area where responsibility is shared between the Commonwealth (federal or Australian) government and Australian state and territory governments. The Oceans Policy, implemented by the Commonwealth and applied within Commonwealth jurisdiction, has been a major initiative but its implementation highlights a number of challe...