ABSTRACT
This chapter is a product of a year’s research at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, working on a comparative study that examines the relationship between constitutional principles and administrative institutions in Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Since constitutions differ from one country to another, so will the ethical standards derived from them. Haussmann’s vices are more interesting for our purposes than his virtues because they are more directly related to the constitutional standards of the regime in which he flourished. To do justice to his memory, however, the brighter side of his character should not be ignored. Many of Haussmann’s virtues would be welcome in civil servants of any regime, for example, his indomitable energy and his unflagging loyalty to his political master. Although sharp practices in matters of public finance would eventually lead to his downfall, there is no evidence that these practices redounded to his personal financial advantage.
