Neutre parce que désintéressé ? Le langage de l’officiel du Conseil d’État et la « pieuse hypocrisie » des serviteurs de la chose publique (1870-1940)

At the heart of State apparatus, the Conseil d’État overlooks the whole French civil service. Through its members, it develops an extremely salient discourse on neutrality, based on the promotion of the value of disinterestedness. Using a social and historical approach targeting the Third Republic period, this article accounts for the progressive construction of this institutional ethos, which is fuelled by an overarching reference to the idea of public service. Indeed, during this period, the latter becomes the staple of French administrative law as coined by the litigation department of the Conseil d’État. By so doing, the demonstration reflects upon the politicisation of senior officials, a phenomenon it inquires into with a prosopographical frame and with the help of geometric data analysis.