VITAL SIGNSrnGOVERNMENTrnThe Suppression ofrnPublic Virtuernby CongressmanrnRobert K. DornanrnOur American government wasrnfounded on the ideal of res puhlia,rnthe republic. History is filled with earnestrnattempts to create this ideal—Athens,rnSparta, Rome—all of which servedrnAmerica’s founders as the intellectualrnbackdrop for a true new world order.rnThe original conception of a classicalrnrepublic held public virtue in highestrnesteem. Rulers, magistrates, and officeholdersrnwere to be disinterested (notrnuninterested) players in government.rnIn other words, political leaders were tornset aside personal interests, whetherrnparochial, professional, or business, andrnseek the best interests of the state orrncommunity in which they ser’ed. Theyrnwere to be statesmen. Governmentrnservice for personal gain was seen asrnimmoral and lacking virtue, as wasrnconstituentism in any form. This wasrnthe ideal.rnThis ideal was inseparably connectedrnto the practical benefits of liberty andrnvirtue. Men dependent upon the graces,rnmercies, finances, and greed of others—rnnot to mention the compounding of dependencyrncaused by their own uncontrolledrnappetites—were unworthy ofrnpublic trust. Public servants were to bernindependent of influence peddlers and,rnhence, at liberty to govern for the commonwealth.rnThis prerequisite did notrndisqualify businessmen or anv otherrngroup of men with commercial interestsrnfrom public service. The essential qualityrnof independence, although an importantrnfactor, was not necessarily of arnmaterial nature; rather it was more particularlyrnmoral. Classical republicanismrnheld that fallen man could refine his naturernto an exceptional degree, morally elevatingrnhimself to a level at which herncould actually function independent ofrnspecial interests and personal gain.rnNow imagine the collective nature requiredrnof the electorate if this were therncriteria for officeholders. Could they bernany less virtuous or disinterested? Bothrnthe real strength and weakness of republicanrngovernment is that it requires arnmoral citizenry. Its entire constitutionalrnstructure hangs on the virtue of its citizens.rnIn fact, in ancient republics onlyrn”virtuous” people were allowed to berncitizens. Certainly slaves could notrnbe citizens. Neither could charlatans,rndrunkards, prisoners, or debtors. Whorncould trust any of these types with thernfuture of a nation?rnOf course, all of this high-mindednessrnwas excused, if not expressly then convenientlyrnignored, almost immediatelyrnafter its public enunciation due to thernreal nature of fallen man. For all theirrnrhetoric, each ancien regime was soonrncorrupt and, even if later, fallen like itsrnpeople. Even so, the ideal of a republicrnhas captivated minds for centuries, notrnthe least of which were the minds of ourrnFounding Fathers.rnBenjamin Franklin expressed it wellrnwhen someone asked him what type ofrngovernment we had in this new land, andrnhe said “a republic if you can keep it.”rnIn The Federalist, Alexander Hamiltonrnwrote that “it seems to have been reservedrnto the people ot this country, byrntheir conduct and example, to decidernthe important question, whether societiesrnof men are really capable or not ofrnestablishing good government from reflectionrnand choice, or whether they arernforever destined to depend for their politicalrnconstitutions on accident andrnforce.” And George Washington wasrnequally eloquent when he stated in hisrnFarewell Address that “of all the dispositionsrnand habits which lead to politicalrnprosperity, religion and morality are indispensablernsupports.” It was the samernGeorge Washington who, in his First InauguralrnAddress, renounced “every pecuniaryrncompensation” in the name ofrnpublic virtue and republican government.rnUnderstanding that the ideal of a republicrnpermeated America’s infant politicalrnstructures can help shed light onrnmany of our modern civil contentions.rnTake the right to vote. Children taughtrncivics today may very well take universalrnsuffrage for granted, and yet not long agornvoting was limited to a privileged few—rnto those classes viewed as disinterested;rnthat is, their inoral standing (largely determinedrnby temporal holdings) allowedrnthem to remain aloof of special interestsrnso as to maintain the common good. Todayrnsuch civil restrictions are generallyrnviewed as the result of gross elitism andrnclass distinctions of the worst kind.rnEven if antircpublican special interestsrnhave been victorious to date, the rhetoricrnof republican government is still with usrnin various sickly shades and hues. Considerrnthe decorum of Congress, whichrnmandates that colleagues address eachrnother as the “distinguished gentleman”rnand “my esteemed friend.” Perhaps wernthink that if we say it enough, it mightrncome true. Even further, examine thernreputation of lawyers in our society.rnWhile Roman law’ers such as Cicerornwere once held in high esteem, ourrnFounding Fathers suspected this “genteelrnprofession” to a degree that remainsrnwith us todav. They were seen by thernFounders as parasites on society practicingrna “groveling, mercenary trade” andrnincapable of participating in good government.rnBig businessmen were seen inrna similar light. Neariy all of our instinctivernsuspicions regarding a variety of professionsrnare a result of America’s deeprnattraction to the ideal of republican government.rnTo this day we still suspectrnsomewhat the shaky backgrounds andrncomplex financial dealings of individualsrnseeking to goern us.rnThe clearest evidence that republicanrngovernment no longer exists in Americarnis the size of government itself. If publicrnservants are to be disinterested and removedrnfrom the selfish demands of specialrninterests seeking favors, then surelyrnone way of measuring their success atrnremaining aloof is by looking at the size,rnnature, and scope of government. Fortunately,rnfor the purposes of a relativelyrnshort article we do not need a microscopernto exact a measurement of ourrncurrent standing. Millions of federalrnemployees, tens of thousands of congressionalrnstaff, volumes of regulatoryrnmorass, years of baeklogged court cases,rntrillion-dollar debts, an entrenchedrnwelfare state, cradle-to-grave intrusions,rnand marbled halls dripping with corruptionrnare but a few examples. Not onlyrn40/CHRONICLESrnrnrn