Portal:Politics/Selected article/2007, week 10

The English noun Commonwealth dates originally from the fifteenth century. The original phrase "common wealth" or "the common weal" comes from the old meaning of "wealth" which is "well-being". The term literally meant "common well-being". Thus commonwealth originally meant a state governed for the common good as opposed to an authoritarian state governed for the benefit of a given class of owners.

Today the term is more general and means a political community.

The type of community indicated by the term commonwealth varies. For instance, in different contexts it might indicate:

• a political unit founded in law by agreement of the people for the common good;
• a federated union of constituent states;
• a community of sovereign states;
• a republic;
• a democratic constitutional monarchy;