Gildas Tanguy is Associate Professor at Sciences Po Toulouse and deputy-director of the Laboratory of the Social Sciences of the Polity (LaSSP).Jean-Michel Eymeri-Douzans is the President of the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA), and a Professor at Sciences Po Toulouse-LaSSP.

• Chapter 1. Variations on the prefectoral figure in Europe. Some research questions and an ideal-type for a comparison.- Part 1. Genesis and historicity.- Chapter 2. French prefects. Genesis and institutionalization of a State ‘grand corps’.- Chapter 3. Studying the apparition of prefects in Italy between Napoleon and the Unification.- Chapter 4. Civil governors and Public Order in 19th century Spain. The case of Barcelona.- Chapter 5. Serving the King, serving the people. A historical outline of the Norwegian county governor.- Part 2. Facts & Figures.- Chapter 6. Social and educational backgrounds of the territorial representatives of the State in nowadays Europe.- Chapter 7. A profession or a position? Recruitments and careers of the territorial representatives of the State in nowadays Europe.- Part 3. A culture at work. Between incarnation, compromise & politicization.- Chapter 8. In the flesh. Giving the State bodily form in 19th-century Europe.- Chapter 9. Dealing with dualities. The daily life of a Dutch King’s Commissioner.- Chapter 10. Being a (sub-)prefect in Paris. The self-legitimization of the prefectoral corps’ members working within French core ministries, etc.