The paper compares aspects of decision making in health and education in the United States and Great Britain from 1890-1970. The major purpose is to demonstrate variety in the degree of centralization within the two policy areas during this period. Centralization is defined as the degree to which all resources of a given type are controlled by one or many decision-making authorities. The document is presented in three sections. Section I reviews social science literature relating to centralization. Section II explains how an interpretation of centralization which emphasizes the structural aspects of decision making contributes to a better understanding of policy formation. Topics discussed include boundaries of a policy area, resource flows, types of decisions and decision makers, and concentration of power. Section III offers case studies of health and educational policy formation in the United States and Great Britain. For each policy area, information is given on sources of revenue, number of decision makers, control over training of professionals, employment, staff decisions, and expenditures. Findings indicate that although the two countries displayed a general tendency toward concentration in decision making, they had quite different time frames in progress to their 1970 levels. (Author/DB)