commonwealth

(noun)

A form of government, named for the concept that everything that is not owned by specific individuals or groups is owned collectively by everyone in the governmental unit, as opposed to a state, where the state itself owns such things.

Examples of commonwealth in the following topics:

  • Promoting the General Welfare

    • Article IV of the Constitution of Massachusetts provides authority for the state to make laws "as they shall judge to be for the good and welfare of this commonwealth. " The actual phrase "general welfare" appears only in Article CXVI, which permits the imposition of capital punishment for "the purpose of protecting the general welfare of the citizens. "
    • Similarly, Article IV of the Constitution of Massachusetts provides authority for the state to make laws "as they shall judge to be for the good and welfare of this commonwealth. " The actual phrase "general welfare" appears only in Article CXVI, which permits the imposition of capital punishment for "the purpose of protecting the general welfare of the citizens. "

  • Interstate Relations

    • Four states use the official name of Commonwealth, rather than State.

  • Primary Sources of American Law

    • The reason is that although the courts of the various Commonwealth nations are often influenced by each other's rulings, American courts rarely follow post-Revolution Commonwealth rulings unless there is no American ruling on point, the facts and law at issue are nearly identical, and the reasoning is strongly persuasive.

  • Establishing Justice

    • State courts, which try 98% of litigation, may have different names and organization; trial courts may be called "courts of common plea", appellate courts "superior courts" or "commonwealth courts. "
    • State courts, which try 98% of litigation, may have different names and organization; trial courts may be called "courts of common plea," and appellate courts may be "superior courts" or "commonwealth courts. " The judicial system, whether state or federal, begins with a court of first instance, is appealed to an appellate court, and then ends at the court of last resort.

  • Assembling a Campaign Staff

    • In Britain and other Commonwealth countries, such as Canada and India, each campaign must have an official agent who is legally responsible for the campaign.

  • Basic Judicial Requirements

    • State courts may have different names and organization; trial courts may be called "courts of common plea" and appellate courts "superior courts" or "commonwealth courts. " State courts hear about 98% of litigation; most states have special jurisdiction courts, which typically handle minor disputes such as traffic citations, and general jurisdiction courts, which handle more serious disputes.

  • The Media

    • A self-described liberal media watchdog group, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), in consultation with the Survey and Evaluation Research Laboratory at Virginia Commonwealth University, sponsored an academic study in which journalists were asked a range of questions about how they did their work and about how they viewed the quality of media coverage in the broad area of politics and economic policy.

  • The International Monetary Structure

    • For example, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Eurozone, Mercosur, and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are all examples of regional trade blocs, which are very important to the international monetary structure .

  • Non-Democratic Governments: Monarchy, Oligarchy, Technocracy, and Theocracy

    • Historical examples of elective monarchy include the Holy Roman Emperors and the free election of kings of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth .

  • Common Law

    • The United States and most Commonwealth countries are heirs to the common law legal tradition of English law.