ABSTRACT
The creation of the Senior Executive Service (SES) in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 provided dramatic recognition of the importance of the administrative state. The federal bureaucracy, with the SES at its head, has survived twelve years of hostile political leadership. Through the use of administrative discretion, bureaucrats will continue to share in governing the Republic. The relationship between the governing institutions of the administrative state and their constitutional masters recalls the Homeric epics wherein the gods played heavenly games, fought heavenly wars, and made heavenly love while flesh and blood mortals played earthly games, fought earthly wars, and made earthly love. The ambiguity that inheres in ethical discourse should not discourage the manager from undertaking further thought and reflection. The chapter explores a richly detailed definition through the habit of discretionary choices made within the structured ambiguity of constitutional values with the intention of promoting the common good.
