We use the German term “Schadenfreude” because in English we have the thing but not the word. The same is true of the French word “fonctionnairisme,” which is the bureaucratic culture of doing your job without regard to the politics of those in charge. In France, history has produced a sharp distinction between “le gouvernment” and “l’administration.” Presidents and premiers come and go; constitutions come and go—they’ve had three monarchies, two empires and five republics so far. Sometimes the Germans come and go. But whoever is in charge, burglars must still be caught, taxes collected, children taught, and potholes mended. So l’administration grinds on, even as the regime collapses.
Former FBI Director James Comey has given us a look at the American version of fonctionnairisme. He is a fonctionnaire clean down to the bone. Although his former agency is legally subordinate to the president and the attorney general, Comey resents what he considers the unwarranted involvement of his political superiors in FBI business. His concern is much more to protect the practical independence and public reputation of his agency than it is to carry out the will of his elected superior and those who speak for him. He apparently resents the fact that both Attorney General Loretta Lynch and President Donald Trump put him and his agency in a position where they could appear to be serving the interests of one political party or the other. To the best of his ability, he is taking his revenge on both while trying to protect and increase the agency’s freedom to do its job as it sees fit, without interference from elected officials.
