Can the U.S. compete in the Commonwealth Games?

Currently, the United States has no senior international swim meets scheduled in 2022. No FINA World Championships, no Olympics, no Pan Pacs, all postponed or canceled. Nothing.

However, there are still a few regional international meets happening in other parts of the world this year, including the Commonwealth Games. And that’s all fun and games, except the U.S. can’t compete.

The Commonwealth is a group of 54 “independent and equal countries,” according to the Commonwealth’s website. Notably, these countries include swimming powerhouses like Australia, South Africa, Canada, and, of course, the United Kingdom. 

Could the U.S. participate, if it wanted to?

At first glance, this question is, well, questionable. After all, the U.S. conducted a whole war just to get away from the British. But pressure for the U.S. to join the Commonwealth–which would allow the country to compete in the Commonwealth Games–has increased in recent years. During President Trump’s term, the American and British governments were reportedly in touch about the U.S. potentially joining the Commonwealth.

Let’s break down what it would take for the U.S. to join the Commonwealth, and thus become eligible to participate in the Commonwealth Games. These requirements have changed over time, with 7 meetings from 1931 until 2007 altering and refining membership criteria. These requirements take into account the items discussed at the 2007 Commonwealth Head of Governments Meeting, held in Kampala, Uganda, as well as the 2012 Charter of the Commonwealth, and the requirements can be found on the Commonwealth’s website.

• An applicant country should have a “constitutional association” with an existing Commonwealth member.

First and foremost, this one requirement is strongly suggested, but doesn’t use mandatory language like “must” or “shall.” Like many member countries, the U.S. is a former British colony (which the U.S. might not want to emphasize, but more on that later). However, Rwanda and Mozambique joined the Commonwealth without historic associations to the United Kingdom, the most prominent Commonwealth country. The U.S. could satisfy this requirement, but it doesn’t necessarily have to qualify to become eligible to join the Commonwealth.

• Applicants should be considered on a case-by-case basis.

No problem here, at least not on the United States’ end.

• An applicant country should accept and comply with the values set forth in the 1971 Declaration of Commonwealth Principles.

The requirements contained in the Declaration of Commonwealth Principles are: international peace and order (manifested through support of the United Nations); individual liberty and equal participation in democratic processes; the eradication of racial discrimination; opposition of all forms of colonial domination and racial oppression (through commitment to the ideals of human dignity and equality); the eradication of poverty, ignorance, and disease; raising the standard of living and achieving a more equitable international society; encouraging the flow of resources–private and public– to developing countries; and international cooperation (to end war, promote tolerance and development, and fight injustice).

On their faces, the United States should easily be able to agree to these requirements, as many of them are ideals and values the U.S. promotes on its own. The U.S. is also an active and powerful member of the United Nations, and regularly participates in international efforts. The cynic might say the U.S. doesn’t comply with all of these values, and one could make a list of what the U.S. does or doesn’t do in the name of each ideal, but these general values seem to coincide with U.S. representations of its own goals and ideals.  

• “An applicant country must demonstrate commitment to: democracy and democratic processes, including free and fair elections and representative legislatures; the rule of law and independence of the judiciary; good governance, including a well-trained public service and transparent public accounts; and protection of human rights, freedom of expression, and equality of opportunity.”

Similarly to the statement above, these values are consistent with U.S. documents like the Constitution, which support general democratic processes such as freedom of expression and equality of opportunity. According to the 2020 Democracy Index, run by the Economist, the United States has what is termed a “flawed democracy,” in line with countries like France, India, and South Africa, who all have scores that fall under what the index terms a flawed democracy. Though countries like Canada and the United Kingdom rank higher, the United States’ relatively stable democracy, and the fact it ranks among other Commonwealth members, should qualify it for membership.

• An applicant country should accept the norms and conventions of the Commonwealth, which include the use of English for inter-Commonwealth relations, and an acknowledgement of Queen Elizabeth II as head of the Commonwealth.

Though the U.S. has no official language (it’s not English, look it up!), it is a member of the United Nations, which uses English as one of its working languages. If the U.S. were to join the Commonwealth, its administrative team would have to use English, which might be prohibitive to some people living in the country, but isn’t out of line with many other de facto requirements for working in international relations.

But the acknowledgement of Queen Elizabeth II is another story. From a practical standpoint, acknowledging the queen as head of the Commonwealth doesn’t change the status of our country at all, and it should be noted that 34 of the Commonwealth nations are classified as republics; only 15 nations have the Queen as their head of state. However, given the recent falling out culminating with Meghan Markle’s departure from the royal family, as well as the 1776 general fallout with the royal family, the U.S. might be hesitant to make this formal acknowledgement. Though, if the U.S. were intent on joining the Commonwealth, it might make this exception.

• New members are encouraged to join the Commonwealth Foundation and to “promote vigorous civil society and business organizations within their countries, and to foster participatory democracy through regular civil society consultations.”

Similarly to the third and fourth requirements, this requirement seems like something the U.S. might agree to–though the U.S. has gone back and forth on its willingness to participate and fund international programs over the past few decades. However, this participation is certainly feasible for the U.S., and the requirement for eligibility is just an encouragement to join, nothing mandatory.

Rights and Obligations of the Commonwealth Nations

Membership with the Commonwealth is not guaranteed–in fact, if member states, which have already been accepted into the group, do not follow certain rules and commit to certain obligations, their membership could get suspended. To date, Fiji, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe have all been suspended for various infractions, though only Zimbabwe actually left the Commonwealth (in 2003).

The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) is in charge of enforcing the requirements of Commonwealth membership. The CMAG has enforced suspensions relating to breaches of democracy, such as when Fiji refused to call credible elections by a certain date in 2009, or when Pakistan passed the set deadline to end the state of emergency in the country, a state that prevented elections from being held.

Notably, no country has ever been expelled from the Commonwealth.

Becoming a Member

If the U.S. were to submit a formal interest in the Commonwealth, it would go through a number of assessments before being asked to submit a formal application evidencing its commitment to the values and requirements listed above. The application will then have to be accepted on a consensus by the Commonwealth heads of government.

A U.S. addition to the Commonwealth would provide a large boost of resources to the organization, and clearly the U.S. would likely need more of an incentive to join the group than the potential to compete in another round of international competitions and really solve a one year problem.

But the U.S. could join, if it wanted to. Many people point to the American Revolution as evidence the U.S. will never join, but other countries that have left the kingdom even more recently, like India, have managed to make up, and the United Kingdom and many other member states are close U.S. allies, and have been for decades.