This collection provides valuable information about the structures and composition of the higher civil service and its position in the political structure through a comparative analysis of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Greece, Denmark, and Sweden. The book explores how higher civil service has developed in the light of the massive changes in European societies in the past thirty years.

This book surveys the changing role of senior civil servants in Western Europe and explores whether they have kept their central role in government decision-making. Looking at these issues in comparative perspective, the contributors provide an insight into the causes and consequences of the changing role of officials.

This is a comprehensive and scholarly account of the changing political map of Europe as it emerges from the Cold War, providing a broad and comparative analysis of Europe's major states and examining whether a new common European political model can be detected.