French civil servants : to cut, or what to cut

While the French civil servant mass would seem to be too high (as advocated by the political right wing), cutting in railway, postal service, and especially education public employment is not the way out. Rather, the layered structure of public administration which makes for long pathways from the provincial base to the centralized political top should be trimmed. However, since it is this very backbone that permits the main man to effectively control and gain support from the whole of France, it is not the target of necessary reform. President Sarkozy often does seem to have the right central concept in mind, but too often fails to either be informed well enough, or to overcome political short term strategic reasoning to take the right decision on the ground. He should head the lesson from former shining examples in this department like the Roi Soleil, who managed to govern a country (without rapid means of communication or transport) with a handful of administrators.