In the United States the scandals surrounding the political use of the executive for party advantage seem to be growing. The GSA one is about having US Republican Party representatives at all the ribbon cutting ceremonies.
Because of separation of powers and the party-machine balance between executive and legislative in the US - this is a scandal. I am reminded of the requirements the Australian Government places on flagpole funding for schools. The government demands that a member of government, ie the executive, be present, not the local parliamentary member for the school.
This looks to be the same form of patronage, where the executive is leveraging its power for party and political advantage. Yet this is a scandal in the US, but not in Australia. The main difference is because Parliament combines the executive and legislative into one.
It is important to note though that the separation of powers in this instance is dependent on the party-machines. The Bush Administration had not checks on them while the US Republican Party enjoyed majority status in the legislative.
