The Search for Meaning in Government Service

• Published date: 01 February 2004
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2004.00350.x
• Date: 01 February 2004
• Author: Alex N. Pattakos

106 Public Administration Review •January/February 2004, Vol. 64, No. 1

Alex N. Pattakos

The Innovation Group

The Search for Meaning in Government Service

Question: Why doesn’t the civil servant look out her

window in the morning?

Answer: So she’ll have something to do in the af-

ternoon.

—Carroll and Siegel (1999, 181)

This kind of joke, of course, is not exactly what govern-

ment servants want associated with their work, nor do they

find it especially humorous. That said, government work-

ers remain one of the few unprotected societal groups that

can now safely be maligned in such jokes. To be sure, it is

not easy being a public servant in the so-called postmodern

era, a time when the meaning of public service is grounded

in the idea of the free market (McSwite 2002).

Doing the public’s work, in my opinion, has always been

a noble calling even though working in government does

not always conjure up positive images among citizens. Ide-

ally, especially in jurisdictions that are structured on demo-

cratic principles, the link between the governed and the

governors should be both authentic and transparent, which

would allow citizens to remain engaged with and expect

only the very best from their public servants. Similarly,

the delivery of public goods and services by or through

government should always reflect a passion for excellence,

a concern for guarding the public’s trust, and a focus on

advancing the public welfare.

It also seems that, irrespective of one’s political persua-

sion or perspective on the proper size and role of govern-

ment, the concept of public service should be viewed with

respect rather than disdain. And public employment, it

would follow, should by definition provide a path that is

both honorable and meaningful.

However, the attractiveness of seeking a job in the pub-

lic sector—let alone a career path—waxes and wanes.

While the situation today may not be new compared to

previous periods in history, its implications, especially

in terms of what it portends for the future, are far-reach-

ing and profound. Indeed, the capacity of all democratic

nation-states to administer the public’s interest stands at

risk if they don’t do an effective job of addressing the

issues confronting government service at all levels and

in all categories of employment—elected, appointed, and

civil service.

To be sure, there are many formidable challenges fac-

ing public-sector employment which must be tackled. In

this regard, the three R’s—retirement, recruitment, and

retention—are among the contemporary challenges requir-

ing action and opportunities for public-sector transforma-

tion. Likewise, it has been suggested that civil service sys-

tems may be broken, which is more than reason for alarm

as we begin to contemplate the raison d’etre and position

of government service in the twenty-first century. Add to

these forces the continuing challenges associated with the

privatization of public services and those embedded in

generations that have yet to converge on their adult iden-

tity—think Generations X and Millenium—and it is no

wonder that government employment is often viewed with

suspicion, ambivalence, and even disrespect.

“It’s close enough for government work.” “Innovation

in government is an oxymoron.” Statements such as these

are not only indictments of those in the public’s employ,

but also reflections of ourselves, for, as Aristotle observed

in the Politics, “Government is more than a legal structure,

more than an arrangement of offices; it is a manner of life,

a moral spirit” (cited in Pattakos 1995, 318). For public

servants, Aristotle’s wisdom strikes at the heart and soul

of who they are and what they have chosen to do. It also

reflects the concept and spirit of public service in signifi-

cant ways, for it suggests that working in government re-

ally does mean something—above and beyond the obvi-

ous fact of gainful employment.

Not everyone who works in government, of course, is

aware of, let alone admits to, such fundamental existen-

The Reflective Practitioner

Alex N. Pattakos is a principal of the Innovation Group, based in Santa Fe,

New Mexico (www.seedsofinnovation.com). A former member of ASPA’s

National Council, he also chaired ASPA’s Action Team to Promote the Con-

cept of Public Service. He holds a doctorate in political science from North-

ern Illinois University. He is the author of a new book,

Prisoners of Our

Thoughts: Viktor Frankl’s Principles at Work,

which will be released in 2004

by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. E-mail:alex@seedsofinnovation.com.