Statesmanship has been a classic theme in the history of political thought since Plato’s Politikos. Although mostly ascribed to highly visible political leaders, it has occasionally also been associated with other public officials, such as judges, diplomats, high military officers, and indeed (the focus of this paper) public administrators. This is particularly the case in the American literature, but sometimes it has been done in Europe, too. Back in 1836, for instance, Henry Taylor wrote a book about the British public servant which he titled (unmistakably referring to Plato) The Statesman. And somewhat earlier, Hegel described public servants as the ‘universal class’ primarily responsible for the general interests of the state.
Closely associated, traditionally, with the monarchy, the public servant seems at least possibly to share in the aspect of being ‘above parties’ and ‘beyond political strife’ – much more so, comparatively, than in the US. Adopting a history of ideas perspective, I will study not only secondary, but (if possible) also primary European sources on this subject from the Renaissance up till the 19th century. The identification and description of cases of administrative statesmanship is one of the goals of the paper. (Perhaps the Dutch ''raadspensionarissen'' Van Oldenbarnevelt and De Witt can qualify.) This paper is part of a larger research project on administrative and judicial statesmanship that I am currently conducting.
