French Technocracy and Comparative Government

IN recent years there has been much discussion of technocracy in France, some academic, more polemical. A number of distinguished ‘technocrats’ have produced their own statements of faith (e.g. Armand, Bloch-Laink, Closon). Academic studies have in the main been analytical, but some empirical work has also been done (see bibliographical note). The subject is an interesting one and one which may appear relevant to the student of politics for several reasons. The simplest, of course, is as part of the explanation of the French system of government. Most ‘Foreign Governments’ textbooks now have a reference to French technocracy. But it is not simply a case of understanding France for its own sake. Growing ties with Europe-governmental, industrial, and scientific-make it necessary for an ever wider group of persons to understand the structure of French administration and the character of French administrators (public service and private enterprise). A consideration of technocracy is also relevant to the simplest sort of comparative study: the description and comparison, or at least juxtaposition, of a number of different political systems. The civil service forms part of the complex of institutions that must be described if one system is to be compared with another. Institutions themselves can only be understood against their wider, cultural background. ‘The comparison of one national administration with another involves more than a confrontation of techniques; it involves a confrontation of cultures’ (C. H. Sisson). The educational and career systems which lie behind technocracy form an important part of the French cultural pattern. A common criticism of ‘old-fashioned’ comparative government studies is that they are ‘culture-bound’ because they deal only with similar ‘Western type’ systems. This criticism itself overlooks the great cultural differences between ‘Western’ countries. A consideration of French technocracy may draw attention to this. If one is going to compare systems, France and Britain are still two good starting points: sufficient broad similarities allow one to concentrate on the effect of a limited number of signiscant cultural differences.