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Although the prefectural establishment seemed to gain power during the Fourth Republic, a sociological approach shows this to be only in appearance. In fact, two changes took place. First, the model linked to the Third Republic of the prefect as a “notable”, disappeared: prefects came mainly from the middle classes and as a result the prefectural body didn’t have the social profile of the state’s “grands corps”. Secondly, the corporatising of the prefectural establishment was not a success. Although it was better organised, it could not be a symbol of administrative power when faced with weak or unstable governments. Thus, so far as the prefecture is concerned, the Fourth Republic was not the continuation of the Third, and did not make it possible for administrative power to make up for deficiencies in political power.