La concepción hegeliana de la administración pública. Una sistematización de los aspectos principales del concepto de "estamento universal" (<i>allgemeine Stand</i>)

Abstract

This papers attempts to systematize Hegel’s understanding of public administration and to evince the originality of his approach. For that purpose we present different features of the “universal estate” (allgemeine Stand) as follows. First, we expound the social dimension of the universal estate, i.e., the fact that it is for Hegel one of the three estates (Stände) in which civil society (bürgerliche Gesellschaft) is divided. Then, we localize the universal estate in the social division of the estates on the basis of a logical criterion that leads us to highlight the universalistic point of view which civil servants must have. Finally, we explain the task of subsumption made by the universal estate, considering the logical and “organic” relation between the powers of the State as a principle.