Public Service and Democratic Values:The Moral Interface

Abstract

If reality is in the relating, then the relationship that exists at any given point in time, between the visions-values-virtues of democracy and the actual implementation of public policy, represents a critical determinate in defining the moral essence of civic republicanism and the common good in our systems of governance. The manner and extent to which the virtual hopes and promises of democracy can become existent realities are determined, in no small measure, by the magnitude of the ethical-moral consciousness that prevails among those who have committed themselves to serve the commonweal. The moral interface that binds the visions of democratic values to the practical dynamics of public service represents a point of convergence where the nature of this relationship determines the quality of life evidenced at alllevels-national, state, and local-of our society. The burden of maintaining the integrity of our civic republican system of governance falls heavily on the career public servants. To them, substantial responsibility is delegated to insure that the laws are faithfully executed. But even more significantly, they become, by default, our guardians of the moral interface, implicitly charged with maintaining the eschatological visions of our Founding Fathers.