ABSTRACT
From 1870 to 1986, that is, from Louis-Adolphe Thiers to Francois Mitterrand, 1,078 ministers, secretaries of state, and undersecretaries have succeeded one another to power, across three political regimes and 140 governments in France. The three pathways were in competition. If one predominated, it was necessarily at the expense of the other two. The partisan capillarity prevailed in certain periods, such as under the Mitterrand presidency. To the three pathways to power should be added a conjunctional pathway of primary importance. The predominant characteristic of the collective portrait of ministers of all political tendencies in the period 1945-1969 is the active participation to the Resistance movement during the war. Involvement in the Resistance did not necessarily imply ambition of making a political career. In any case, between engagement in the Resistance and appointment to government, many years passed, although some individuals went directly from the clandestine network of the Resistance to the political stage.
