This fully revised and updated edition of an established reference book, provides in one volume the most comprehensive and detailed statistical guide available to the government and politics of the twenty-four countries in the OECD.There is no lack of statistical data about the OECD countries (the nineteen countries of Western Europe together with Cabada, the United States, Japan, Australia, and New Sealand); but much of the material is hard to track down and little is available in comparative form. The editors of the present volume have sifted through many hundreds of sources to select the essential facts and figures on population, social structure, employment, the economy, public finance, government structures, and political parties from 1950 to the present day. In addition they provide social and economic background for each of the countries covered to enable the data to be put in context. A short final section lists sources of further information.The resulting combination is both invaluable and fascinating, whether it is used casually to check up a fact or two, or systematically to make detailed comparisons between the most advanced political systems of the Western world.