“Die Geschichte ist Gegenstand einer Konstruktion, deren Ort nicht die homogene und leere Zeit sondern die von Jetztzeit erfüllte bildet.” wrote Walter Benjamin. “So war für Robespierre das antike Rom eine mit Jetztzeit geladene Vergangenheit, die er aus dem Kontinuum der Geschichte heraussprengte.” (“History is the subject of a construction whose site is not homogeneous, empty time, but time filled full by now-time. Thus, to Robespierre ancient Rome was a past charged with now-time, a past which he blasted out of the continuum of history.)
Because of their tasks and their high level of responsibilities, leadership aptitudes, besides managerial competences, are key for civil servants who will occupy top positions. The institutions in charge of their training and education must not only provide the leaders of tomorrow with the knowledge and skills they need to do their current job properly; they must also ensure that the leaders have the qualities required for the exercise of their responsibilities at all stages of their professional career. Based on the experience of the French national school of public administration (ENA) and its key role as the training organisation both for pre-service and lifelong learning for French public sector executives, this paper presents the different elements of the French approach for training future government administrative leaders. This comprehensive and integrated strategy takes into consideration the challenges of training for leadership and the needs for a permanent adaptation to the evolution of the administrative environment.
While there is universal recognition of their important role in the functioning of administrations and for the motivation of public officials, the values that serve as a reference for the public service are witnessing a change in the way they are understood and implemented in practice, particularly with regard to the new requirements of public management. The analysis developed in this article centres on the interplay between various dimensions relating to the perception and use of the key values of the French civil service and highlights the tensions that prevail despite the apparent preservation of the axiological reference universe of those concerned. It raises the question of the role of schools in the training of values management. It draws on the results of a survey conducted in France by the network of civil service schools (Réseau des écoles de service public; RESP) among managers undergoing training and their teachers and supervisory staff.
Points for practitionersThe study shows that organizations that are responsible for the initial or continuing training of civil servants offer a breeding ground for the (re)production of public service values. However, for civil service managers to be able to deal with the potential tensions between values (no clear hierarchy, apparent contradictions) it is necessary to develop their capacities for reflective analysis and practical application that will allow a critical distance and promote a contextualized ethical approach.
La mondialisation de l’économie de la connaissance a modifié l’ensemble des référentiels des établissements d’enseignement supérieur en France ainsi que leurs champs d’opportunité. Dans ce contexte, la question de la pertinence des stratégies existantes de positionnement à l’international se pose avec acuité, notamment pour ce qui est de la collaboration entre les dispositifs de formation publics dans un secteur à la fois fortement encadré par l’État (orientations politiques, attributions des ressources, diplômes) et de plus en plus concurrentiel. L’analyse en termes de coopétition permet d’approfondir les conditions et les enjeux relatifs à certains modes de coopération qui se mettent en place entre acteurs publics de formation au niveau international. Cet article, illustré par un cas de stratégie de coopétition au Moyen Orient, explore les opportunités et logiques de collaboration entre des acteurs qui se trouvent a priori en situation de concurrence et met en perspective les difficultés de telles coopérations avec pour résultat l’a bou tissement d’une formation en management public.
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