Comparing cadres and careers in two very different ministerial staff systems

Ministerial staff are found in many different political systems and there is a growing literature of single-country studies examining the nature of the phenomenon. Comparative studies to date have focused on mid-range or nation state-level comparisons and often compare countries from within administrative tradition ‘families’. This paper widens the scope of comparative research by reaching across administrative traditions to compare the phenomenon in two most different contexts, and focuses at the level of political actors. It compares the educational and professional backgrounds and career trajectories of ministerial staff in the Netherlands and Australia, countries with very different institutional designs and political-administrative cultures. It finds both similarities and key differences, which relate to underlying structural, ideational and institutional factors