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Legitimacy in Public Service

Our governments operate under a constant cloud of suspicion. One consequence is that public servants are frequently required to justify the exercise of their authority and power. This ongoing process of justification and legitimation is not simply a matter of finding a rule or a law that authorizes a given course of action. Administrators affect the legitimacy of democratic governance in at least three ways - the processes administrators use to carry out their work helps to shape citizen attitudes about the basic fairness of governance, the outcomes of administrative work affect citizen attitudes about whether government is effective, and the constant interplay between public officials and citizens from one activity to another over an extended period of time develop strong relationships. Even when citizens do not agree with the outcomes of public decisions, they want to know if everyone has played by the same rules, has had an opportunity to be heard, and has been provided with a fair chance. Like the outcome of elections, citizens can accept the outcome of administrative initiatives more easily if they believe the process has been conducted fairly. Public servants in government have a unique set of process expectations that set them apart from their for-profit and nonprofit sector counterparts. Consider for a moment the set of expectations that citizens have of their public servants. Public servants are also judged by their ability deliver results. Citizens, customers, and nonprofit donors want results, especially in matters that affect them directly. It may be about getting their building permit processed as quickly as possible, or obtaining access to municipal utilities without much hassle or interruption, or keeping their neighborhoods safe and quiet, or seeing the results of their charitable gifts in meals and beds for the homeless. Career administrators play an important role in redefining what democratic governance means. They do this in a variety of subtle ways, most often driven by changing public values that alter the relationship between the government and society. Public servants affect the validity of their government agencies through process, results-oriented and constructive legitimacy.