An Anglo-American Congress

Aug. 22, 2009

When I talk to people about unifying the English speaking world into a single political and economic federation, the first question is always about power - who will wield it, and who won't have it. Let's consider a couple of principles and come back to that answer in a moment.

First, let's consider the principle of equality. If we truly believe that all humans are equal, then we must also subscribe to the notion that all people are entitled to the same voting power; then it follows that all constituent human beings of the nation are equally powerful within its political structures.

And so to answer the question, we share power. No one person has a greater share of power than anybody else, as power is equally apportioned between the men and women of the nation. If these principles hold true, then it need not matter if the population of the nation is 4 million or 400 million.

Speaking of 400 million citizens...

Now, there are an innumerable number of ways in which we could elect representatives from the five Anglo nations and send them to our imaginary congress. For the purpose of this article, we'll use the American Constitution, because it's the easiest to work with. Keeping the cap on the House of Representatives at 435 members, the following table apportions House Representatives based on the population of each proposed future state. The total Congressional Delegation is arrived at by simply taking the number of House Representatives and adding two Senators. Just so the sparesly populated large states don't feel so small, I've thrown in land area and GDP. Take a look at how things break down:

The States of an Anglo-American Congress

As you can see, I've taken a few liberties with the table. New Zealand has been entered as two states - a South and North Island - doubling its allotment of senators. The thinly populated territories of Canada and Australia have been not been granted statehood, and have remained as territories. In this model, the Canadian Province of Prince Edward Island has failed to become a state due to its relatively small population (138,900). This would give P.E.I. the long-awaited opportunity to merge with her fellow maritime provinces - New Brunswick and Nova Scotia - to form a single state. Such a Maritime Union has been proposed perennially since 1863.

The table reveals some interesting information about the transition from nation-state to statehood. Despite losing all of the advantages of being a fully independent nation-state, England, being the most populous, would top the list of most powerful states, with a whopping 9.2% of congress. This would make England the most powerful state, in the most powerful country in the world. All things considered, power is so diffused among the states of the would-be union, that only ten states would have more than 2% of the total Congressional Representation. Canada's largest province, Ontario, would rank as the 7th most powerful state; giving Toronto the springboard it requires to reach world-class status. Australia's most powerful state would be New South Wales, coming in at 16th.

Let's see how each country of English-speakers fair in their current political divisions:

The Nations of an Anglo-American Congress

The takeaway message from this table is that a unified English-speaking world be far and away the dominant global power. Forget the national breakdowns, just take a look at the totals for a moment. At 26 million square kilometres, the union would be one and half times bigger than the world's current largest country - Russia. With 417 million citizens, only India and China would have larger populations. And perhaps most important of all, the combined GDP of the union would exceed $17.6 trillion, retaking the number one spot back from the European Union.

But, the most striking conclusion of all cannot be calculated on a table. With renewed strength and vigour, a united English-speaking world could finally take on the global challenges of political and economic fragmentation. I believe the formation of an Anglo-American Union to be the full and complete expression of the purpose of the English-speaking peoples: to spread freedom, democracy, and safeguard human liberty, wherever in the world it is threatened.