Comparative studies examine the constitutional design and actual operation of governments in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, India, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United States. Contributors analyze the structures and workings of legislative, executive, and judicial institutions in each sphere of government. They also explore how the federal nature of the polity affects those institutions and how the institutions in turn affect federalism. The book concludes with reflections on possible future trends.

This book provides an engaging and distinctive treatment for anyone seeking to understand the significance and interpretation of the Constitution.

Courts are key players in the dynamics of federal countries since their rulings have a direct impact on the ability of governments to centralize and decentralize power. Courts in Federal Countries examines the role high courts play in thirteen countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Nigeria, Spain, and the United States. The volume’s contributors analyse the centralizing or decentralizing forces at play following a court’s ruling on issues such as individual rights, economic affairs, social issues, and other matters. The thirteen substantive chapters have been written to facilitate comparability between the countries. Each chapter outlines a country’s federal system, explains the constitutional and institutional status of the court system, and discusses the high court’s jurisprudence in light of these features. Courts in Federal Countries offers insightful explanations of judicial behaviour in the world’s leading federations.

Introduces students to key principles, concepts, institutions in Australian Public Law, provides solid foundation for study of constitutional & administrative law. Explained through analysis of mechanisms of power & control, including discussions of functioning of institutions of government & contemporary issues. Authors at Uni of Adelaide.

Stephen Gardbaum proposes and examines a new way of protecting rights in a democracy.

This book on federal executive power in Australia examines what the Commonwealth government can do withour legislative authorization, and considers in detail the constitutional relationships between the Queen and the Governor-General, the Governor-General and the Ministry, and the Parliament and the Executive, and the extent to which the Executive is independent of legislative control. It discusses the nature of the prerogative, and examines the extent to which the courts can review governmental action based upon constituionally conferred power, including an analysis of judicial review of the exercise of prerogative powers, and of the 'reserve powers' of the Crown. The book ends with a review of the role of the Governor-General's 'reserve powers' and of what might be done to prevent a recurrence of the constitutional crisis of 1975.