ABSTRACT
INTEREST in the working of French administration has grown in Britain in recent years. Earlier studies were mainly concerned with the Conseil d’État and administrative justice. Since the war, however, considerable attention has also been devoted to such developments as the achievements of the nationalized industries, the work of the Planning Commissariat and the training given by the École Nationale d’Administration. Many aspects of the French administrative system have thus come under scrutiny, and they have often been praised by those who have examined them. Sometimes, indeed, they have been presented as models for the tradition-bound, ‘amateurish’ British civil service, whose timid experiments have been set in sharp contrast to the dynamic activities of their colleagues on the other side of the Channel.
