The Servant of the People

Servants of the people, abbreviated to SPs, are all those who hold office in politics and government, whether paid or unpaid. The people grant them power to enable them to serve, and they must handle that power with integrity. But how do should do that? This free ebook offers necessary concepts, insights and guidelines for integrity in politics and government. Each of the 95 chapters discusses one of the many facets of integrity, with plenty of positive and negative examples from all over the world. In this book the author applies his 25 years of experience as a consultant to public sector administrators, as a professor of integrity and as an SP himself. The central message of the book is that integrity has great power: it can make or break the careers of politicians and officials.

Whether we are talking about politicians, government officials, semi-officials, or volunteers for political parties, about mayors, prime ministers, or monarchs, they all have at least one thing in common: they are ministers in the Latin sense of the word, which means servants. They are chosen, appointed, or elected to serve the people, society, or their community. As Tony Blair rightly said to his campaign team after he first won the UK national elections, “The people are the masters. We are the servants of the people. We will never forget that.”4 For the same reason Russian presidents take an oath: “I swear in exercising the powers of the President of the Russian Federation … to faithfully serve the people.”

In order to be able to serve, servants of the people, in this book abbreviated to SPs,6 are given power in their positions to make, execute, or control policy. They have the power to influence something or someone.7 That is why the Russian president’s oath makes the connection with exercising power. There is a risk that this power SPs have will not be used for its intended purpose, that of service. Aristotle, one of the first and greatest philosophers and political scientists, said that because rulers have power they will be tempted to use it for personal gain.8 This applies not only to rulers but to all SPs: power brings with it the temptation of improper use or abuse. It is important that SPs withstand this temptation, and that requires integrity. But what is integrity, why is it so important, and what demands does it make on SPs?