Governments come and governments go, but civil servants go on for ever. No government can rule without them Civil servants in Britain are powerful enough, but on the Continent they are a very formidable body indeed, with powers Whitehall would envy. Their social position is as important as their political position. This is particularly so with the small man, who is far more familiar to people than the remote figures at the centre of government.
Tonight's programme looks at Philippe Huet, a top French administrator, and Herr Ruhl, Burgermeister of the small village of Lanzenhain.
See page 12