Values Matter: A Study of Individual Valuation of Democratic Governance in the Public and Private Sectors

2011In recent years there has been a growing debate in the field of public administration over whether public employees are essentially self interested. Public choice theory contends that all people are self-interested utility maximizers, and as a result that public employees would seek to use their position for personal gain. This differs from the traditional rational theory of public administration, which contends that public employees essentially absorb the goals and values of the state to serve the public purpose. This paper uses data from the World Values Survey to compare private and public sector employees in six wealthy democracies in terms of their commitment to democratic values. Findings suggest that public sector employees exhibit a significantly greater commitment to democratic governance than do those in the private sector