For more than a generation this concise survey has been the classic introduction to the fundamental ideas and structure of Canadian government and the practice of democracy in this country. It examines the various elements of federal government — the House of Commons, the cabinet, the Senate, the monarchy and governor-general, the public service, and the courts — and of provincial and municipal governments, and explores their interrelationships.

In this new edition Norman Ward has incorporated the many changes in government since his last revision in 1971.

Robert MacGregor Dawson (1895-1958) was a Canadian political scientist and academic at the University of Toronto and author of the classic text, The Government of Canada.

R. MacGregor Dawson's profile page

W.F. Dawson (1930-2011), the son of R. MacGregor Dawson, was a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Western Ontario.

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NORMAN WARD, a graduate of McMaster University, and with further degrees from the University of Toronto, was a Professor in the Department of Economics and Political Science at the University of Saskatchewan. He served with the Royal Commission on Provincial Development and Rehabilitation, Nova Scotia, 1943-4, and had frequently been chairman of boards of conciliation in labour disputes. His previous publications include The Canadian House of Commons: Representation; Government in Canada; and Mice in the Beer. The latter won the Leacock Medal for Humour in 1960.

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