We'll begin with how the constitution says we run the country. The people elect a government and the government has some authority to tell the people what to do. This happens in parallel at state and federal levels.

Well, strictly this isn't what the constitution says. For starters, it's simplified by leaving out the indirection in the election of the government, where people vote for a parliamentarian and the parliamentarians vote on the government. But that's a subject this presentation won't address.

Also, the constitution says all sorts of peculiar things about the governor general appointing ministers for short periods, who get confirmed by parliament, etc.. But this diagram is sort of how we pretend the constitution tells us we run the country.