In the aftermath of Gene Robinson’s election and consecration as Bishop of New Hampshire, factions in the Anglican Communion drew of the proposed covenant as a means of establishing a system of uniform authority throughout the worldwide Communion. On March 24, an absolute majority of dioceses in the Church of England voted down the proposed covenant, even though the vast majority of English bishops and the Archbishop of Canterbury endorsed it. Proponents of the covenant saw it as a means of reducing the risk of division. Opponents saw it as a means by which one Church could interfere in the policies and practices of another.
To date, only The Church of Ireland, The Anglican Churches of Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Southern Africa and the Southern Cone of America, and those of the Provinces of Myanmar, South East Asia and the West Indies have adopted the covenant.
The Episcopal Church USA will vote on the covenant during its general convention in July 2012. The covenant has virtually no chance of being adopted here.
You can follow these links to read an insightful article about this by Diarmaid MacCulloch in The Guardian, to read the BBC’s reporting on the vote, what the Archbishop had to say, and to read the proposed covenant itself.