History of formation and development of applied anthropology in the USA and Great Britain is retraced in the article, Russian tradition of applied ethnographic studies discussed, potential and prospects of the discipline analyzed. The authors demonstrate that the relations of anthropology, politics and administration were always somewhat indeterminate. Apart from people doing their work to order of state structures, and apart from armchair scientists, there are quite a few social critics and opposition-minded political activists among anthropologists. Real influence of anthropology on state policy consists not so much in preparing concrete governmental decisions, as in providing politicians with information, and, at that, as a rule, in the context of large multidisciplinary projects.