This well-established textbook gives students a thorough understanding of the machinery and processes of government in the United Kingdom as well as of the forces shaping the country’s politics. For the fourth edition the text has been substantially updated to take account of the many significant shifts in British politics since 1997, especially the constitutional reforms of the 1997 Labour government.

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• Extensive annotated guides to further reading and suggested questions for discussion at the end of each chapter.
  
• A greater use of illustrative material, case studies and graphics, which supplement the text in a lively manner.
  
• Clear summaries of arguments and chronologies of complex events, as well as boxes giving biographical data on significant political figures.
  
• A dedicated website, www.blackwellpublishing.com/peele, features information on the book, sample chapters, updated articles so that teachers and students can be regularly updated between editions.
  
• A range of Internet resources to encourage students to keep up-to-date with a rapidly changing subject matter.

Gillian Peele is Fellow and Tutor in Politics at Lady Margaret Hall and University Lecturer in Politics at Oxford University. She has published widely on British and American Politics.