France

Since the early 1980s, French public administration has been involved in a policy of modernization. As in most European countries, public administration has been subjected to systematic criticism, especially from the ranks of politicians, and notably from users and citizens, exposing the growing costs and allegedly poor results of public intervention. The influence of neo-liberal ideology, the desire of successive governments to reduce the costs of the public sector (which accounts for 40 per cent of operating costs in the national budget), the need to adapt public action to more diverse and specialized social demands, and perhaps the demagogical tendencies of politicians looking for a renewed legitimacy, have pushed forward the adoption of reforms that had appeared elsewhere in Europe. These included: privatization of public enterprises, contracting between public and private organizations and a transformation of the civil servant’s professional role. Sustained attention has been dedicated to higher civil servants, considered to be the main actors in the modernization process. Since 1990 there has been a multiplicity of government reports studying the ways and means of reforming French public administration, whilst taking into account its historical and social specificity (Blanc, 1993; Picq, 1994).