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The civil service is the creation of the modern state and democracy. Neither its particular legal status nor its career system is specific to France. Indeed the civil service belongs to the weberian system of public administration which has predominated in all the countries of the OECD. While there is no French exception, there is however a French model of civil service, characterized by a stronger sense of identity and a more centralized organization than in similar countries. The rigidity of this system is now being strongly criticized in the name of managerial efficiency. At the same time, the impact of European law has weakened an edifice all the more fragile than it was more structured and uniform. All the same, the necessary process of adaptation should not lead to paint a black picture and to forget that the principles governing the civil service and its general status are not incompatible with a modern, dynamic and efficient management.