Book excerpt: The basic rules and implications of every state's system of government provide an authoritative and objective basis to guide and judge the actions of the state's decision makers, including courts. Christopher Taucar provides a detailed history of the British system's development from state power being exercised by centralized royal courts to its present-day distinct legislative, judicial, and executive bodies with diverse powers. The British System of Government and Its Historical Development fills a large and important gap in contemporary understandings of British legal and political history by providing a broad overview of a system that influenced political systems across the world. The main constitutional settlements are examined, including the development of parliamentary sovereignty, courts, and the common law, emphasizing the supremacy of law and natural law. Thus, the findings question the assumptions held by many contemporary scholars and judges by reaffirming the centuries-old view of the supremacy of law as an objective and external standard. The British System of Government and Its Historical Development argues that knowing this system is vital not only to our understanding of systems of government in Britain and elsewhere, but also as the basis to hold governments accountable to their most basic rules and imperatives.