It’s worth noting that knowledge is power and knowledge and that goes especially for knowledge about how the government works.
A lobbyists who understands really well how laws gets passed in a way that allows him to influence how laws are passed has power that comes from having a better understanding than other players. They lose something if the knowledge spreads. As a result it’s hard to gather the most important knowledge.
Robert Caro’s book The Power Broker is great in explain how Robert Moses exerted power in New York. I have only read The Power Broker but not Caro’s book about Lyndon Johnson, but I expect that you learn a great deal about how government worked from his book about Lyndon Johnson as well.
Unfortunately, you are unlikely to find a book that goes that well into how either France or the United Kingdom presently work.
When it comes to understanding the way governance works in the United Kingdom at a moment, I would likely read Dominic Cummings. While he certainly isn’t a neutral source he speaks quite openly about how things actually work and might give you a good foundation.
Governments frequently leak documents. Reading leaked documents seems to me quite important if you actually want to get ground level truth into the workings of government without anyone’s spin.
It’s worth noting that knowledge is power and knowledge and that goes especially for knowledge about how the government works.
A lobbyists who understands really well how laws gets passed in a way that allows him to influence how laws are passed has power that comes from having a better understanding than other players. They lose something if the knowledge spreads. As a result it’s hard to gather the most important knowledge.
Robert Caro’s book The Power Broker is great in explain how Robert Moses exerted power in New York. I have only read The Power Broker but not Caro’s book about Lyndon Johnson, but I expect that you learn a great deal about how government worked from his book about Lyndon Johnson as well.
Unfortunately, you are unlikely to find a book that goes that well into how either France or the United Kingdom presently work.
When it comes to understanding the way governance works in the United Kingdom at a moment, I would likely read Dominic Cummings. While he certainly isn’t a neutral source he speaks quite openly about how things actually work and might give you a good foundation.
Governments frequently leak documents. Reading leaked documents seems to me quite important if you actually want to get ground level truth into the workings of government without anyone’s spin.