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Since the law of 28 Pluviose, year VIII, prefects have been charged with the prestigious role of representing the whole of the French government and of coordinating public action on the local level. Despite constitutional recognition of their role in 1946, prefects have nonetheless seen a sharp decline in their authority and coordination capacities. The article suggests three explanations for this decline and analyses the reasons for the failure of attempts at reform undertaken in the 1940s and 50s in the aim of renewing the function.