Parameters of Power: Canada's Political Institutions, Brief Edition is based on the premise that students need a comprehensive understanding of how existing political institutions are designed, and how they currently work in practice, before they begin to entertain proposals for reform. Parameters of Power: Canada's Political Institutions, Brief Edition attempts to provide a straightforward introduction to Canada's political institutions, without sacrificing the detail necessary to launch research projects and the weighty discussions that lead to deeper understanding of politics in the true north strong and free. For the most part, Parameters of Power: Canada's Political Institutions, Brief Edition focuses on how Canadian politics is currently structured by the existing institutions, leaving discussion of proposed reforms for the classroom and research projects. Its touchstone features, such as the political biographies, chronologies, figures and statistical data, are designed to be as exhaustive as those found in comprehensive Canadian government textbooks, sometimes more so.