Those who created social security wanted to find a way of managing it that contributed to social democracy. They succeeded in doing so in the first years, with the unified CGT trade union contributing actively to the organization of the new funds. But management by social partners was soon plunged into a period of turbulence, due to competition between unions and disagreement on the part of employers’ organizations. These power struggles and financial difficulties led to the reform of 1967: the abolition of elections to the administrative body, co-determination between employees’ organizations and employers, and the progressive concentration of management to the new national funds. The generalization of social security and compensation between regimes raised the question of a return to greater social participation. This was much debated in the 1987 “États généraux” on social security.