Luc ROUBAN - The Socio-Political Universe of French Civil Servants

Pouvoirs n°117 - Serviteurs de l’Etat - avril 2006 - p.39-54

Two questions dominate the debate about the social situation of French civil servants and its future: on the one hand, are civil servants similar to the employees of the private sector? On the other hand, to what extent can it be said that the civil servants of the various member states of the European Union share similar representations and similar values? A survey of long-term socio-political data indicates that even though the electoral behaviour of civil servants tend to resemble that of private sector employees, those who work for the state maintain a cultural specificity (values of solidarity, lesser influence of economic liberalism). The comparative analysis of values in Europe indicates that French civil servants, just like private sector employees, are not set apart by their refusal of innovation and change, but rather by a tendency to withdraw into their private sphere and by a lack of ambition. Reformism always represents a risk for social servants. This attitude can be explained by the lack of professional autonomy, a weak level of interpersonal trust, and the confinement of trade-unions to a protest role. Résumé

Référence électonique : Luc ROUBAN, "The Socio-Political Universe of French Civil Servants", Pouvoirs, revue française d’études constitutionnelles et politiques, n°117, 2006, p.39-54. Consulté le 17-02-2012. URL : http://www.revue-pouvoirs.fr/The-Socio-Political-Universe-of.html