overnment should get leaner, but not meaner, administration officials contend. I, for one, contend that government should get nicer. In his 1994 National Performance Review report, "Reinventing Government," Vice President Al Gore described citizens as customers who deserve good treatment from government workers. This is understating it, however. Citizens aren't just customers. They're stockholders of government. They don't just buy its services; they pay its bills. They own the joint.
Therefore, it is high time to put the "civil" back in civil service. One step would be for government workers to take a pledge of courtesy to all citizens. This might sound quaint to cynics. Yet politeness and politics have a common ancient Greek root (from "polis" or city)-they have direct psychological interrelations.
The truth is, some civil servants can be rude. In New York, where I used to live, this was my experience with the parking violations bureau, mass transit, and even with courts. In Washington as well, the parking tickets division operates like an occupying army. Similar complaints are made about some workers at federal agencies. At the IRS, employees often treat citizens as guilty until proven innocent.
I was lucky to work at the National Endowment for the Humanities, an agency with a well-earned reputation for courtesy. I was trained in this and, in small ways, I tried to add to it. Often those who called for information about NEH grants were shy about doing so. I reminded them it is their government, that I was their employee and, while I could not act with any partiality, I would answer all questions I could in a helpful manner.
I once sent a memo to panelists reviewing grant applications about the importance of politeness in dealing with proposals, no matter how flawed. Most panelists were always polite, but there were exceptions. For example, one panelist called a proposal "risible." To prevent other such comments, I wrote in the memo, "No applicant is entitled to a grant. All applicants are, however, entitled to a courteous review of their applications."
Running a program made me realize government workers need to be reminded of who, exactly, they work for. In truth, no one works for the NEH, or the IRS, or the State Department. No one works for the government. Civil servants work for the people of the United States.
Every civil servant should sign a courtesy pledge. The pledge wouldn't imply breaking or bending any rules, or acting with partiality or sentiment in the matters a civil servant must administer or adjudicate. It would address only the manner in which government workers make or communicate policy and decisions.
The pledge could read as follows: "All citizens deserve courtesy. Our government exists to preserve the rights of citizens. The first duty of any civil servant is to provide citizens with polite treatment. I promise to provide it."
As a follow-up to the pledge, awards could be distributed for customer service beyond the call of duty. Agencies could encourage workers to exchange customer service ideas and to discuss their experiences as citizens when dealing with other agencies. If employees can recognize rudeness in others, perhaps they can eliminate it from their work habits.
Montesquieu, the French philosopher, said the resilience of a democracy rests on the virtue of its citizens. Yet it is also true that the resilience of a democracy rests on the virtue of its public servants and their ability to give citizens faith that government cares. Political scientists claim that there is a loss of faith in democracy.
Courtesy cannot cure this, but it can alleviate citizen alienation. Precisely because government cannot always give every citizen what he or she wants, the civil service should at least make more effort to live up to its name.
Tom O'Brien, a former program officer for NEH, teaches at the University of Maryland. He also taught humanities at New York colleges, and wrote a book on movies and social values.
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