France: Which Prospects of Hybridization for the Neo-Weberian State in the Homeland of the ‘State-in Majesty’?

Abstract

In this article, after recalling the historicity of the French ‘State-in-Majesty’ and its current politico-administrative regime (section 2), we will assess the French case against Pollitt and Bouckaert’s model and demonstrate how nowadays France corresponds to a hybridized Neo-Weberian State (section 3). Then, section 4 will demonstrate how the never-ending triple French State reform develops as a specific and multilevel interplay of the ‘five Ms’. Turning to the upgraded definition of the NWS as an ‘omega’ for our turbulent times, section 5 will defend the thesis that the robust, resilient French Neo-Weberian State is well equipped to democratically govern poly-crises and master three current ‘great transformations’, provided it is not captured by illiberal populists (section 6).