49

It is possible to speak of the emergence of a “Welfare elite” on two main grounds. The first is the structuring of a homogeneous environment of high-ranking civil servants sharing certain characteristics (in particular membership of some elite “corps”, and longevity in the sector); of resources (of expertise and of power due to their institutional positions occupied); and of concepts (in particular for the reforms to carry out in order to preserve the French social protection system). The second ground is the influence of these high-ranking civil servants on public decision-making – and the analysis covers those policies for sickness protection, and also family allowances since 1981 – which leads to a relative autonomy when compared to the political actors.