Abstract
Since the non-Abelian version of a recently formulated gauge theory in two spatial dimensions gives rise to a nonlinear constraint upon the fields in the radiation-gauge approach, one is motivated to attempt a description in terms of the axial gauge. This is accomplished in the Abelian version of the model, with results similar to those encountered in the radiation gauge. The non-Abelian case is then formally solved in the same gauge, it being subsequently shown, however, that the theory is not covariant. It is argued on the basis of perturbation theory that such noncovariance is a real effect which is not readily circumvented by modification of the field transformation properties.