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 aceremonial part of the constitution, but a crucial political and international actor of real importance.

Explores the role and powers of the Crown during political crises in both the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Chapters cover a range of states from almost every continent, united by their shared legacy of British colonialism and monarchical intervention in local politics Contributes to growing debate about the meanings and implications of the royal prerogative, highlighting the relevance of this historical research to crises of government in modern politics

Autorentext

H. Kumarasingham is Senior Lecturer in British Politics at the University of Edinburgh, UK. He is a political historian of Britain, the British Empire and the Commonwealth. His recent work covers the decolonization of the British Empire and subsequent state-building that followed. He is currently writing a history of the Crown's legacy in South Asia and co-editing The Cambridge Constitutional History of the United Kingdom. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Inhalt
Preface - H. Kumarasingham.- Chapter 1: Viceregalism - H. Kumarasingham.- Chapter 2: The Crown and Conservative Party Leadership: The Political Crisis of 1963 in Britain -Pippa Catterall.- Chapter 3: Sovereigns, Sovereignties and the Scottish Question: Identities and Constitutional Change - James Mitchell.- Chapter 4: 'A Supreme and Permanent Symbol of Executive Authority': The Crown and Governorship in Northern Ireland in an Age of 'Troubles' - Donal Lowry.- Chapter 5: Viceregal Crises in Nkrumah's Ghana - A. J. Stockwell.- Chapter 6: 'A Quaint and Unimportant Anachronism?' The Office of Governor General and Constitutional Controversies in the Commonwealth Caribbean - Kate Quinn.- Chapter 7: The Radical Nationalist as National Figurehead: Nnamdi Azikiwe and the end of Nigeria's Westminster Constitution, 1960-66 - Barnaby Crowcroft.- Chapter 8: The Queen of Rhodesia versus the Queen of the United Kingdom: Conflicts of Allegiance in Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence - Donal Lowry.- Chapter 9: The Eastminster Viceroy and the Republican Monarch: The Sri Lankan Head of State and the 2018 Constitutional Crisis in Historical Context - Asanga Welikala.- Chapter 10: The Rulers and the Centrality of Conventions in Malaysia's 'Eastminster' Constitution - Andrew Harding.- Chapter 11: Kerr's Ghost: The Office of Governor-General in Australia after 1975 - Mark McKenna.- Chapter 12: The Struggle to Reform Brunei's Monarchy: The Sultan and the British - Kevin YL Tan.- Chapter 13: The Race to the Palace from Tuvalu: What Happens when a Prime Minister and a Governor-General Try to Dismiss Each Other? - Anne Twomey.- Chapter 14: Viceregalism at Westminster: The Role and Powers of the Queen in the 2019 Brexit Constitutional Crises - H. Kumarasingham.