Seizing the State through its administration. For a sociology of the workings of public action.

Summary Taking up the ambition of the program launched in 1964 by the Centre de sociologie des organisations (CSO) to study the French administration empirically, this issue aims to demonstrate the interest today in studying the State through its administration, in addition to an entry through the sociology of public action. By reviewing the ebb and flow of this approach in France since the mid-1960s, and by pointing out the contributions and limitations of the work carried out within the framework of the "Administration in the Face of Change" program, this introductory article argues for a sociology of the workings of public action. It is through a transversal and cross-sectoral approach, at both the central and territorial levels, that it is possible to grasp the issues of permanence and change, but also to answer the question: what makes the State hold together?