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Contrary to what sociological approaches tend to suggest, the analysis of professional careers shows that the relationships between administration and politics are defined in terms of underlying interactive structures. Analysis also shows the limitations of “models” of public administration during different historical periods: it is the availability of certain professional profiles that conditions political choice, politicisation leading to the definition of types of careers and various kinds of public action. The history of the “corps” and of senior civil servants is determined neither by mechanical rules nor by chance, but by specific normative structures. Due to the statistical nature of these structures, research on public administration follows two lines: a relative viewpoint and a long-term historical viewpoint.