Contents

India and USA................................................................................................................ 2

a)

General difference.................................................................................................. 2

b)

Form of Government............................................................................................... 2

c)

Office of President.................................................................................................. 3

d)

Civil Services........................................................................................................ 3

India and UK.................................................................................................................. 4

a)

General difference.................................................................................................. 4

b)

Civil service.......................................................................................................... 5

c)

Parliamentary Commissioner.................................................................................... 6

d)

CAG................................................................................................................... 7

India and France.............................................................................................................. 7

a)

General difference.................................................................................................. 7

b)

Office of President.................................................................................................. 8

c)

Civil service.......................................................................................................... 8

d)

Administrative courts.............................................................................................. 9

India and Japan............................................................................................................. 10

a)

General differences............................................................................................... 10

b)

Civil service........................................................................................................ 10

Sample questions of PubAdm (mains).................................................................................11

References................................................................................................................... 11
Personal Info:............................................................................................................... 11

India and USA

a) General difference
USA
1. Oldest written constitution
consisting of a preamble and 7
articles.

India
1. New constitution (1949) originally
consisting of a preamble, 395 articles
and 8 schedules.

2. Highly rigid: All parts of the

constitution are to be modified by
special procedure which is 2/3rd
majority in both the houses and
ratified by 3/4th of the states.
3. Federal constitution more
power is given to the states, with
states having separate
constitutions and residual powers.

2. Mix of rigidity and flexibility.

Some parts of the constitution can be
modified by ordinary law and some
require special process.

4. Bicameral legislature (congress)

house of representative (lower
house) and senate (upper house)
with powerful upper house.

4. Bicameral legislature (parliament)

loksabha (lower house) and rajya
sabha (upper house). The loksabha is
more powerful.

b) Form of Government
USA Presidential form of government

3. Federal constitution with a strong

center. There is division of power
between center and states with
residual power with the center.
Also, the subjects (union+
concurrent) available to the center
are significant in numbers and
matter.

India Parliamentary form of

government
1. Head of the government
1. Head of the government (PM) is
(president) is elected by the people
appointed by the President. He is
directly via an electoral college
leader of the party/coalition
constituted for the purpose.
having majority in the lower
house.
2. He is assisted by a cabinet, an
2. He is first among the ministers.
advisory body consisting of non
All the ministers are appointed
congress members appointed by
by the president on his advice.
him.
3. He is not responsible to the
3. He is responsible to the lower

congress for his acts.

4. He does not attend the congress
sessions.

house.
4. He attends the parliamentary
sessions and has the voting right
in which he is a member.
5. He has to resign if he does not
having the confidence of the
lower house.

5. He is elected for a fixed term of 4

years and can be removed by
impeachment.
c) Office of President
USA
1. Elected by an electoral college created
for the purpose. Size of this is equal to
the size of congress and members are
elected by the people from the states.
The presidential candidate who secure
absolute majority is declared winner. If
no candidate secures the majority then
the Houser of representative elect the
president among the three candidates
securing the highest votes.
2. Only natural born citizens and residents
for 14 years are eligible.
3. He can grant pardon and reprive for
offense against federal laws.
4. His pocket veto is limited. When a bill
is sent to him for assent he can reserve
the bill for not more than 10 days.
5. He can call special sessions of the
congress for consideration of urgent
matters.
d) Civil Services
USA
1. Its a mix of merit and spoils
system. Around 10,000 senior civil
service posts are filled based
political patronage.
2. There is a system of lateral entry.
This facilitates entry at all levels
and any age ensuring movement

India
1. Elected by an electoral college consisting
of :
Elected members of parliament.
Elected members of state assemblies.
Elected members of assemblies of UT
of Delhi and puducherry.

2. Any person who has the Indian citizenship is

eligible.
3. He can grant pardon and reprive on federal
and state laws.
4. He enjoys unlimited pocket veto.

5. There is no such provision.

India
1. All recruitments are based on
merit system only.

2. There is no system of lateral

entry and strict age restrictions
are followed.

3.

4.
5.

6.

between government and private

jobs.
Examinations are assembled and
unassembled. Assembled
examinations are used to fill lower
posts by conducting written tests.
Unassembled tests are used for
senior posts by individual interview
and testimony.
No definite education qualification
is prescribed.
There exists a system of pre-entry
and post-entry trainings. Trainings
are flexible involving universities
as well as in house training
conducted by OPM (Office of
Personnel Management).
Less Restriction on fundamental
rights such as:
They have the right to
express views on
government policy matters
however they can be
disciplined in cases such as
false information,
confidential information,
affects the performance of
organization, etc.
Right to form/join
associations and
collectively bargain is
allowed.

3. All the examinations are

assembled.

4. Education qualifications are

prescribed.
5. Only post-entry trainings are
available.

6. Restrictions on fundamental
rights such as:
They dont have any
rights to comment on
policy matters. This is
done to ensure political
neutrality.
Right to form/join
associations is
guaranteed. However the
government would
consult or negotiate only
with the recognized
ones.

India and UK
a) General difference
UK
1. Oldest democracy which is a blend of
monarchy, aristocracy and democracy.

India
1. New democracy which is a parliamentary
and republic.

2. Unwritten constitution. The

administration is carried out based on
great charters, statutes, conventions
which are backed by tradition and
public support.
3. Flexible constitution. There is no
distinction between ordinary law and
amendment.
4. Unitary constitution. The provincial
governments are for administrative
purposes only. They can be abolished at
any time by the center.

5. British system is based on the

doctrine of supremacy of
parliament. The laws made by the
parliament cannot be declared void
by judiciary.
6. The head of the state/president or
Crown is not elected but decided by
inheritance.
7. Shadow cabinet is formed by the
opposition party. Almost every member
shadows the ministers. The leader of
opposition heads the shadow cabinet.
They closely monitor the working of
respective ministries.
b) Civil service
UK
1. Elaborate recruitment procedure
called country house method is used.
After candidate qualified after the
written tests are taken for a 2 day
interview tests to a country house
and various interviews
individual/group are carried out.
2. There is a 2 year probationary

2. Lengthiest written constitution.

3. Mix of rigidity and flexibility. Some parts of

the constitution can be modified by ordinary
law and some require special process.
4. Federal constitution with a strong
center. There is division of power
between center and states with
residual power with the center.
Also, the subjects
(union+concurrent) available to the
center is significant.
5. Indian system is based on the doctrine
of supremacy of constitution. The
Supreme Court is constitutional given
the right to validate the laws passed via
judicial review.
6. The head of the state is elected by the
people indirectly.
7. There is no such concept here.

India
1. See USA.

2. There is no probation period.

period.
3. Promotions are carried out
professionally :
Candidate is informed well in
advance of vacant posts.
Suitability is decided by
board.
Aggrieved candidates have
the right to appeal.
4. A highly comprehensive system is in
place for better employer (state) and
employee relations - whitley
counsels.
5. Rights
They have the right to
express views on non
political matters of public
importance.
There is a total ban on
political activities at higher
level. It becomes less relaxed
to the middle and lower
levels. The lower levels can
participate in all the political
activities.
Right to strike is not illegal.
However they can be
subjected to disciplinary
actions.
Right to form/join
associations and collectively
bargain is allowed.

3. It is carried out by the Department

of Personnel and Training. The is
scope to improve this area.

4. There is no such mechanism.

5.Rights

They dont have any

rights to comment on
policy matters. This is
done to ensure political
neutrality.
They cannot involve in
any political activity
like joining political
parties, attending
meetings, etc. However
they enjoy the right to
vote.
They dont have the
right to strike.
Right to form/join
associations is
guaranteed. However
the government would
consult or negotiate
only with the
recognized ones.

c) Parliamentary Commissioner
UK
1. Limited scope. Does not include

India
1. Wider scope includes ministers, PM

ministers, PM and MPs.

2. He investigates matters of
maladministration which he is free to
define.
3. All the matters that are referred to him
come via MP. This process is known as
MP filter.
4. He is only an investigation agency and
cannot persecute.

and MPs.
2. He investigates matters of corruption.

3. The aggrieved citizens can directly

approach him.
4. After investigation, the findings are
presented in a special court. A copy is
also sent to the competent authority that
has to report with the action taken.

d) CAG
UK
1. He is an officer of the parliament and
audits the accounts of the union.
2. Any money can be drawn by the
executive from the public exchequer
only after his approval. He is both the
comptroller and auditor.

India
1. He is a constitutional body who audits
the accounts of union as well the state.
2. He has no control over the money
drawn from the consolidated funds and
is involved only during the audit stage
when the expenditure has already
occurred. He is only auditor.

India and France

a) General difference
France
1. Rigid constitution, a special procedure
requiring 60% majority in both houses is
required.
2. Features of direct democracy like : President seeking referendum on
amendments
Is available.
3. Highly unitary government. No separation
of power and power to abolish provincial
governments.
4. Quasi-Presidential and QuasiParliamentary system. The president is
elected by the people and is powerful.

India
1. Already covered

2. No such futures.

3. Already covered.

4. Already covered.

There also exists a cabinet headed by PM

responsible to the legislature.
5. Restricted parliament, it can make laws
only on those subjects listed in the
constitution. The residual powers are
vested with the executive. This is to ensure
powerful executive.
6. There exists a constitutional council to
check the constitutional validity of the
executive decrees and parliamentary laws.
7. The peculiarities of the constitution like
powerful executive, direct democracy,
emergency provisions etc are to ensure
smooth working of the system as France
has the history of unstable governments
and redrafting the constitution every 12
years.
b) Office of President
France
1. Directly elected by people. The
candidate has to secure absolute
majority. If there are no results then 2nd
ballot is used to decide between the first
two candidates securing highest votes.
2. No age restrictions and elected for a
fixed term of 5 years. He can be
removed by impeachment involving
parliament and judiciary.
3. He is powerful with the following
functions: He presides over the cabinet
meetings and directly influences
the government.
He appoints the president and
members of the constitutional
council.
He can summon special sessions
of the parliament.
4. There is a constitutional provision to

5. There is no such distinction.

6. There is no such provision.

7. NA

India
1. Already covered.

2. He has to be 35+.

3. He has only nominal powers.

4. There is no such provision although

ensure republican form of government

meaning there is no scope for monarchy
through amendment.
c) Civil service
France
1. It is known as civil service state or
administrative state due to the weak
government.
2. It had the system of Sale of Office; the
vacant posts were sold to the highest
bidder.
3. The Ecole Nationaled Administration
(ENA) is the apex institute involved in
pre-entry, recruitment, post-entry training.
4. It has world class training. Some feature:
Practical rather than theoretical.
Handled by senior civil servants.
Provision for private trainings.
Long term trainings.
5. Provision to switch to private and public is
available.
6. Promotions are based on merit and
seniority.
7. They enjoy all the rights :
They enjoy freedom of expression
on all matters.
They can join/form
association/trade unions.
They are given the right to strike.
They enjoy all the political rights.
In fact they can get elected and
come back to the service after
resigning.

its a basic structure of the

constitution.

India
1. Stable government.

2. It has been merit based.

3. Already covered.

4. It is not as comprehensive as France.

5. There is no such provision.

6. Promotions are based on merit.
7. Indias rights can be derived from points
mentioned against USA/UK above.

d) Administrative courts
France
1. It is created to provide justice to
citizens on all administrative matters.
The scope is wider. The administrative

India
1. It has a narrower scope and is created
for curbing corruption.

laws known as Droit Adminsitratif are

safeguarded.
2. It can ask for compensation to the
aggrieved citizens as well as take asks
action on disciplinary matters.

2. It can only ask to take action on

disciplinary matters.

India and Japan

a) General differences
Japan
1. Features of direct democracy like
ratification of amendments passed in the
legislature by people at special
referendums.
2. Unitary constitution with no separation
of powers.
3. Constitutional monarch enjoys only
ceremonial functions.
He does not enjoy the power to
choose but only appoint the PM.
PM is chosen by diet.
He does not appoint the
ministers. They are appointed by
PM.
He cannot remove the ministers.
They are removed by PM.
4. Parliamentary government with
powerful PM. He can appoint and
remove the ministers. He can choose at
will but majority have to be from the
diet.
5. Renunciation of war is a constitutional
provision that was added by the General
MacArthur to see that Japan does not
have the sovereign right to raise war.

India
1. Already covered.

2. Already covered.
3. Elected president and enjoys few powers.
He enjoys the power to choose and
appoint PM.
He appoints the ministers of course on
the advice of PM.
He can remove the ministers on the
advice of PM.

4. PM does not enjoy the power to choose

from outside the parliament.

5. Its a matter of Indias foreign policy.

b) Civil service
Japan
1. The administrative officers called
careermen or elitos are attached to

India
1. IAS is not attached to any ministry. They
move from one to another. India believes

2.

3.

4.
5.

6.

7.

ministries. Japan seems to believe in

specialist administrators.
All the civil servants join on the same
day 1st April, the 1st day of financial
year.
Promotions are based on seniority then
educational background, university and
area of specialization.
At lower levels promotions are based
on written tests.
System of collective seniority is
prevalent at higher levels. Civil
servants who have same seniority get
promoted at the same time. Whoever is
not able to find position has to resign
and start Second career.
On retirement, a civil servant is placed
in a private corporation. This system is
called amakudari system.
Rights
Right to form/join associations
is allowed except for police and
maritime safety agency.

administration is a generalist job.

2. They can join at will.

3. It is based on merit.

4. It is uniform across levels.

5. There is no such provision.

6. There is no such provision.

7. Indias rights can be derived from points

mentioned against USA/UK above.

Sample questions of PubAdm (mains)

1. Government has been slow in using modern methods for discovering executive talent
Examine the validity of the statement with reference to recruitment to higher civil service in
India. USA and France (1990)
2. In what respects, the powers of proposed institution of Lok Pal in the Bill already introduced
in Indian Parliament, will strengthen the institution as compared to Parliamentary Commissioner
of UK? (2001)

References
1. Public Administration M. Lakshikanth
2. Indian Polity M. Lakshmikanth
3. PRS - http://www.prsindia.org
4. Internet digging.

Personal Info:
Name: Rajith P.R.