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Le rôle joué par le Conseil constitutionnel, au moment de l'alternance de 1981, a été peu et mal perçu. En réalité, lorsqu'on mesurera la portée de la quarantaine de décisions rendues en 1981-1983, on s'apercevra que le processus politique de l'alternance ne se serait pas déroulé de la même manière s'il n'y avait pas eu un juge constitutionnel. Le Conseil constitutionnel a pu être perçu d'abord comme un frein à l'alternance, et ceci a suscité alors une mise en cause de l'institution. Mais le Conseil constitutionnel a été en réalité un garant de l'alternance car, d'une part, il a assuré la régulation du changement en canalisant et en orientant les réformes, d'autre part il a authentifié le changement en lui délivrant un certificat de conformité à la Constitution. Et c'est ainsi que la Haute juridiction a renforcé ses assises au cours de cette période difficile et qu'elle a définitivement acquis droit de cité.

Summing up
Dean Favoreu first of all reviews the topics discussed at the symposium with particular reference to the problem of defining this new form of administration — of parallel administration — which, in his opinion, needs to be set alongside local, departmental or regional administration — the situation in Provence being a case in point. What is more, such a definition has the effect of sanctioning the need for this type of intervention. Lastly, it would appear impossible to State to what extent this parallel administration encourages or hinders decentralisation.
In his analysis of the features of this new form of administration, Dean Favoreu draws attention to the fact that this is an administrative System which duplicates the traditional administrative machinery and which has temporary and sometimes even clandestine features. This new administration is also of an experimental nature. And lastly, it is a foretaste of things to come. This new form of administration is the result of technological necessity (meaning in most cases the need for efficiency), financial reasons, of which the most important is surely that of overcoming the constraints of public accountability, psychological reasons (the new form of administration being generally better accepted) and lastly, political reasons, in particular promoting the grouping together of communes. Dean Favoreu goes on to examine the legal forms adopted by this new form of administration and concludes by listing the consequences arising from the use of such structures. He seems to see emerging a form of administration with tangled, overlapping areas of competence, often not subject to any law, and symptomatic of the dilution of responsibility. However, he feels that, in the last analysis, the drive and energy of this new form of administration should enable one to overlook its inevitable shortcomings.