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How is competition between powerful individuals regulated in the upper echelons of the State when titles are no longer sufficient? This article looks at unequal access among senior civil servants to positions of power by examining the specific case of Jean-Yves Haberer. As in the court society studied by Elias, in this case competition between administrative elites is also structured within and through social intercourse. The sociology of elites allows political scientists to shift their view from politico-administrative relationships towards the multipolarized economy of exchanges of influence within which careers are also played out.