ABSTRACT

The relation of citizen to public official, of governed to governor, has always posed a central problem of politics whatever the form or theory of government. This chapter analyses the governing tensions through the historical development of public personnel as manifested in changing views about proper qualifications for office. One of the highest political challenges in any regime is choosing who shall govern and in what manner. Political parties and a more representative bureaucracy added much needed complements to that scheme and made public office more accessible to the average person. The political ideals of the period were carried into the routine and daily functions of public service as a result of its partisan and local democratic focus. The proper political ideals for the public service during Gilded, Populist, and Progressive periods began with restoration of basic honesty and commitment to the idea of public trust. Public trust entailed obligations to the public that should transcend partisanhip and embrace neutrality.