The Shapeshifting Crown Locating the State in Postcolonial New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the UK
1 - Introduction
A Shapeshifting Enigma: The Crown in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 January 2019
By
Summary
The Crown is pivotal to the constitutions of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. It ratifies laws, collects taxes, owns land, signs treaties, bestows honors on some citizens, incarcerates others and commands allegiance from its subjects. Yet despite its ubiquity, the Crown is slippery, elusive and poorly understood. Is it the Queen, the government, the state, a corporation sole or aggregate, a feudal relic, a metaphor or a mask for executive power? How is it embodied, and what remains of its powers and immunities? These questions introduce the main theoretical issues addressed in this book, including debates about sovereignty, constitutional reform, the efficacy of political rituals and the power of symbolism. I argue that unmasking the Crown provides critical insights into the nature of the state in the Westminster system of government. The Crown is a legal fiction but also a social fact that operates differently in each realm. I show how its complex, ambiguous and contradictory meanings work as instruments of statecraft. By combining anthropological, political and legal perspectives, new insights can be gained into the elusive nature of the Crown.
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- The Shapeshifting CrownLocating the State in Postcolonial New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the UK, pp. 1 - 28Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019
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