PREFACE

The aim of this book is to describe the Government of
Britain, and in less detail, of the British Commonwealth and
Empire; and so to set forth the nature and purpose of political
activity, as it presents itself to the people of Britain through their
institutions.

The book is intended for those citizens 'who are beginning
the study of politics, whether individually, or as members of
adult education classes or other groups; and for the Sixth Forms
of secondary schools, who, I hope, will find it useful either for
post-Matriculation examinations or as an aid to general knowledge.

The chief difficulty besetting a writer on this subject is the
selection of material and the arrangement of it in due propor-
tion, I have endeavoured to observe the following rules; first,
to give chief attention to those matters over which the mass of
citizens can exercise some control, and for which they bear
responsibility; second, to include such detailed information about
the mechanism of Government as examination syllabuses require.
The intimate connection of the parts of that mechanism, one
with another, make it desirable for the reader to turn the pages
back and forth—relating, for example,' the material of
Chapter VIII with that of the Chapters on Local Government,
or the description of the Treasury in Chapter VI with the
Parliamentary control of finance described in Chapter XL

For the use of those who wish to pursue further any aspect
of the subject, I have added to each Chapter a short list of
books. Many of these contain matter relating to the subject of
a whole Part, or of the entire book; these are marked with an
asterisk.

Politics is closely connected with history and economics, and
at time« it has been necessary to cross the border into the

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