In 1903 a reserve was officially established for the surviving Caribs. Continued agitation for representative government led to constitutional reforms in 1924 and 1936, which introduced through the electoral process a minority component into the legislature.
In 1951 a new constitution granted universal adult suffrage. In 1956 a ministerial system was introduced, giving unofficial members seats on the Executive Council and responsibility for government departments. In 1957 the first election involving a political party representing the masses took place. Franklin Andrew Merrifield Baron (b. 1923), who led a post-election majority coalition in the Council, became the island's first chief minister in 1960 when further constitutional changes went into effect. In 1967 Dominica was transformed into a fully self-governing state in association with Great Britain, which retained responsibility for external defense. In the 1970 general elections the number of constituencies increased from eleven to twenty-one. On July 12, 1978, the Dominica Assembly passed a resolution seeking to terminate its association with Britain. Later that month Dominica was granted independence. Like Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, two other former colonies, Dominica elected to become a republic, with a president as head of state and prime minister as head of government. The official name, the Commonwealth of Dominica, was chosen to distinguish the state from the larger Spanish-speaking country to the north, the Dominican Republic.
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