ABSTRACT
The Founding Fathers believed that democratic governance required leaders with impeccable moral and ethical credentials. Those who occupied office, whether appointed or elected, were expected to demonstrate the highest degree of integrity and conduct themselves in honorable ways. A democratic government-one that is open and accessible to popular will and thoughtcould be achieved only through the good works of morally committed men and women. According to Louis C. Gawthrop (1998) in Public Service and Democracy: Ethical Imperatives for the 21st Century, the 55 men who gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 to draft the Constitution for a new republic wove a garment threaded with ethical values and moral virtues. Those values “constituted an indivisible presence in all of the practical and pragmatic decisions made concerning the structure and functions of the new government” (38).
