ABSTRACT
The "regime values" method attempted to fill the gap in the ethics literature by arguing that since public servants were often required to take an oath to uphold the Constitution as a condition of employment. Those who used the expression "regime values" were advised to make clear the Aristotelian origin of the term in order to avoid confusion with the journalistic use of the word, as in "the Clinton regime", "the Bush regime", and so forth. To focus the discussions in classrooms and training centers, equality, freedom, and property were designated as examples of salient fundamental values that helped to shape and define the American regime established in 1789. Since American civil servants could be assumed to support the Constitution of the United States, this document could serve as a foundation for a community of moral discourse on just what the Constitution and its traditions might mean concretely for contemporary public administrators.
