Surrogates for the Sovereign

A study of the office of the Constitutional Head of State in Westminster-style Commonwealth countries. As with the queen, most of the duties of Governor-Generals and Presidents are formal and ceremonial. But sometimes crises arise which demand a neutral umpire - a Prime Minister dies, a hung parliament is elected, a deadlock develops between Upper and Lower House, law and practice have evolved differently in different parts of the world. And Governor-Generals look in different directions for guidance in no-win situations. In this book specialist writers look at each country separately, describing the variants in infrastructure and in local custom. The common elements in the office of Constitutional Head and in its exercise as exemplified in Ottawa and in Canberra, or in Port of Spain (Trinidad) and in Port Louis (Mauritius) are explored in these pages. But this is no formal exercise in comparative government. It deals with a ceremonial office - but one which can be at the very heart of the key and recurring crises of democracy; the orderly transfer of power from one administration to another.