This book provides the first comprehensive introduction to, and enquiry into, the rules of Western Australia’s (WA) system of government. The WA Constitution is not well known or understood ― or even easy to identify ― and this book provides an essential guide. It brings academic expertise and careful scholarship to the exploration of sometimes complex constitutional issues in a way that will be invaluable for those with specialist interest in constitutional law and government while also being engaging and accessible for a wider audience. In doing so, it combines authorial expertise from constitutional law and political science — something essential to a well-rounded understanding of the simultaneously legal and political nature of a Constitution.

A collection of 10 essays prompted by the Royal Commission into WA Inc about the political and social issues underlying this and similar crises in Australia. The contributors include the editors, Leslie R Marchant, Ann Duffield, Antony Ley, Hal Colebatch and Patrick Mugliston. Appendices consist of a proposed new constitution for WA and a schedule of government losses.