ABSTRACT
The possibility of political community depends on trust. Regarding those who hold power over public matters, we need to trust that the public interest will be served. But what is the public interest? It is difficult to think of things that are in all our interest, given how frequently a variety of interests compete and conflict. Therefore, we place our interests in the hands of public servants who administer agencies responsible for, say, caring for our natural resources or our collective health. Obviously, we must devise ways to hold these leaders accountable for the processes and outcomes they oversee.
