Explain how the differences between American and British bureaucracies may cause American bureaucrats to behave differently.

What will be an ideal response?


British bureaucrats report to and take orders only from the ministers in charge of their departments. They do not deal directly with Parliament and rarely give interviews to the press. By contrast, every American senior appointed official has at least two masters: one in the executive branch and the other in the legislative branch. Often there are many more than two because Congress is not a single organization but a collection of committees, subcommittees, and individuals. This divided authority encourages American bureaucrats to play one branch of government against the other and make heavy use of the media.

Political Science

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