The late Jack Richardson was convinced that the legal basis of federal government and the evolving patterns of power should be understandable — not just to experts in constitutional law, but to people in all walks of life. He believed it is essential that knowledge of the principles by which we are governed be available to the general public, and to participants in the federal system. The author advances expert knowledge by divining those principles. By describing their operation in words intelligible to readers who are not legally qualified, the author achieves his aim of acquainting a much wider range of people with the powers that rule them. The result is a book that will be a great help to students and scholars of law, government, politics and history, as well as a useful guide for administrators, journalists, politicians and legal practitioners. Anyone who needs a straightforward explanation of an element of constitutional government will value the understanding they can easily get from the book.