The Neoliberal Republic: Corporate Lawyers, Statecraft, and the Making of Public-Private France (Corpus Juris: The Humanities in Politics and Law)

The Neoliberal Republi c traces the corrosive effects of the revolving door between public service and private enrichment on the French state and its ability to govern and regulate the private sector. Casting a piercing light on this circulation of influence among corporate lawyers and others in the French power elite, Antoine Vauchez and Pierre France analyze how this dynamic, a feature of all Western democracies, has developed in concert with the rise of neoliberalism over the past three decades. Based on interviews with dozens of public officials in France and a unique biographical database of more than 200 civil-servants-turned-corporate-lawyers, The Neoliberal Republic explores how the always-blurred boundary between public service and private interests has been critically compromised, enabling the transformation of the regulatory state into either an ineffectual bystander or an active collaborator in the privatization of public welfare. The cumulative effect of these developments, the authors reveal, undermines democratic citizenship and the capacity to imagine the public good. The Neoliberal Republic traces the corrosive effects that the revolving door between public service and private enrichment has on the French state and its ability to govern and regulate the private sector. Casting a piercing light on this circulation of influence among corporate lawyers and others in the French power elite, Antoine Vauchez and Pierre France analyze how this dynamic, a feature of all Western democracies, has developed in concert with the rise of neoliberalism over the past three decades. Based on interviews with dozens of public officials in France and a unique biographical database of more than 200 civil servants-turned corporate lawyers, The Neoliberal Republic explores how the always-blurred boundary between public service and private interests has now been critically compromised, enabling the transformation of the regulatory state into either an ineffectual bystander or an active collaborator in the privatization of public welfare. The cumulative effect of these developments, the authors reveal, undermines democratic citizenship and the capacity to imagine the public good This resource traces the corrosive effects of the revolving door between public service and private enrichment on the French state and its ability to govern and regulate the private sector. Casting a piercing light on this circulation of influence among corporate lawyers and others in the French power elite, the authors analyse how this dynamic has developed with the rise of neoliberalism over the past three decades. Based on interviews with dozens of public officials in France and a unique biographical database of more than 200 civil-servants-turned-corporate-lawyers, the book explores how the always-blurred boundary between public service and private interests has been critically compromised, enabling the transformation of the regulatory state into either an ineffectual bystander or an active collaborator in the privatisation of public welfare The Neoliberal Republic Contents Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction One In-between the Public and the Private: The New Lawyering Business Two The Public-Private Foundations of the Neoliberal State Three The Hollowing Out of the Public Interest Four A Black Hole in Democracy? Conclusion: On the “Public-ness” of the State Afterword: Macron, the Nouveau Monde, and the Crowning of the Public-Private Elite Appendix 1: Methodology Appendix 2: Glossary General Bibliography Index "This book analyzes the encounter between the French state and neoliberalism, tracing out the new role of broker that corporate lawyers and law firms have played between markets, the state, and society. Based on extensive interviews and a collective biography of more than 200 individuals who moved across business, government, and politics, it documents the new circuits of circulation within French power elite"-- Provided by publisher