My Discussion With the Chicago Style Q&A Regarding Capitalization of Words Denoting Political Divisions

The Chicago Manual of Style is an essential resource. It’s useful even for contract drafters (see this 2012 post). But I’ve long had a quibble about its guidance on one small issue regarding capitalization of words denoting political divisions. So today I exchanged emails with the online Chicago Style Q&A—itself a great resource.

If I understood it correctly, the interpretation offered by the CMOS representative behind the emails suggests that CMOS would endorse the following distinction:

We submitted the form to the secretary of state of the state of Delaware. [Small s in state.]

We submitted the form to the secretary of state of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. [Capital C in Commonwealth.]

That seems unhelpful.

My analysis is contained in the email exchange, which I’ve reproduced below. I welcome your thoughts as to whether my analysis makes sense and, if it does, whether, and how, CMOS might tweak its guidelines.

But it’s important to note that CMOS representatives answer the odd emailed question free of charge, in their so-called spare time. The answers aren’t proofread or copyedited or passed through a committee. The Q&A postings aren’t viewed as the voice of authority: they’re a less formal sort of alter ego of CMOS, a discussion. If another CMOS representative had happened to come upon my inquiry, I might have received a different answer. And regardless of the response, my inquiry accomplished its goal—to spur me to consider this issue more broadly.

With that said, here’s the exchange of emails:

KAA Email 1

In my book “A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting” (ABA 3d ed. 2013), I recommend that contract drafters follow CMOS guidelines regarding capitalization. But I wonder what Massachusetts lawyers would make of the notion that in accordance with CMOS16, 8.50, one should say “the Commonwealth [capital “C”] of Puerto Rico” but “the commonwealth [small “c”] of Massachusetts.”

I guess one sets guidelines according to what makes sense generally and one lives with those instances where applying the guidelines leads to results that can seem counterintuitive.

If you can provide me with any further justification to offer Massachusetts lawyers, I’d be happy to hear it.

CMOS Email 1

Chicago style does cap the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the same way we cap Washington State. Note, however, that when referring to the geographical place (as opposed to the government entity) both words are lowercased: I am moving to the state of Washington; many species of birds are found in the commonwealth of Massachusetts.

KAA Email 2

OK, so am I correct in thinking the following:

First, you’d say “many species of birds [bird?] are found in the commonwealth of Massachusetts” but would say “many species of birds are found in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.”

And second, you’d say (according to CMOS16, 8.21) “We submitted the form to the secretary of state of the state of Delaware” but would say “We submitted the form to the secretary of state of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts”

If so, some might find less than persuasive the distinctions reflected in both.

CMOS Email 2

We feel that it makes sense to capitalize the formal names of political governing entities (as proper names), but to lowercase the same words when they are not part of a proper name. Thus, there would be contexts where “the commonwealth of Puerto Rico” (lowercased) would conform to Chicago style.

If you feel that these distinctions are too subtle for you or your readers, you might prefer to cap throughout regardless of context. That is the style that many houses use, and readers will not be inconvenienced or confused by it.

KAA Email 3

Yikes. You might have to revise CMOS16, 8.21 and 8.50, because the two awkward distinctions I offer [in my previous email] are required by 8.21 and 8.50. The value of CMOS is that it provides clear guidelines. If you start fudging those guidelines, that undercuts its value.

 

About the author

Ken Adams is the leading authority on how to say clearly whatever you want to say in a contract. He’s author of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting, and he offers online and in-person training around the world. He’s also chief content officer of LegalSifter, Inc., a company that combines artificial intelligence and expertise to assist with review of contracts.

10 thoughts on “My Discussion With the Chicago Style Q&A Regarding Capitalization of Words Denoting Political Divisions”

  1. Ken,

    Here’s my proposal:

    Revise:

    We submitted the form to the secretary of state of the state of Delaware. [Small s in state.]

    to:

    We submitted the form to the Delaware Secretary of State.

    likewise

    Revise:

    We submitted the form to the secretary of state of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. [Capital C inCommonwealth.]

    to:

    We submitted the form to the Massachusetts Secretary of State.

    Reply
  2. Although CMOS famously lowercases job titles (pope, queen, secretary of state), they do cap the State of Delaware (if that’s the official title of the state) per 8.50: the secretary of state for the State of Delaware.

    Reply
    • Actually, 8.25 is the relevant section, and it would be capitalized only if you were saying the equivalent of “President Obama,” a structure that would be way too cumbersome with “Secretary of State of the State of Delaware.”

      Reply
  3. It’s an interesting point about which I don’t have strong feelings, but note that “Commonwealth” as applied to Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky, is simply how those states style themselves; it has no legal significance inasmuch as they are all states of the United States. Moreover, at least here in Massachusetts, the “secretary of state” is, by title, the Secretary of the Commonwealth, so if you’re going to generalize the title you might as well generalize the jurisdiction and say “secretary of state of the state of Massachusetts.”

    That said, I do prefer “secretary of state of Massachusetts,” “Massachusetts secretary of state,” or if you’re speaking of the specific one, “Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.” The distinction between the title and the office is a little elusive (especially in the minds of the office-holders themselves!), so capitalizing is as easy to conceptualize as when to capitalize seasons of the year–something I’ve never gotten the hang of.

    Reply
    • I’m not sure I care about the usage in question; my problem is with CMOS’s proposing a distinction that doesn’t seem to make sense. That said, your shorter formulations have something going for them.

      Reply

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.