Reviews of previous editions: `The book remains the best of the many general texts on British government and politics to be published in the last twelve years or so.' - The Times Higher Education Supplement`The well-known strengths of Mackintosh's original book are sustained and extended' - Parliamentary Affairs

• Chapter 1 Describing the British Constitution; Chapter 2 The Westminster Model; Chapter 3 Forces of Change; Chapter 4 British Government Today; Chapter 5 Political Leadership – Producing a Prime Minister; Chapter 6 Political Leadership – the Strength of the Prime Minister; Chapter 7 Political Leadership – the Limitations on the Prime Minister’s Power; Chapter 8 Political Leadership – Can the Prime Minister be Sacked?; Chapter 9 The Leadership and its Relations with the Electrorate; the State and the Citizen; Chapter 10 Governing through Parliament; Chapter 11 Governing through the Whitehall DePart ments; Chapter 12 Government Outside Whitehall; Chapter 13 The Direction of Change;