Democratic Citizenship and Public Ethics The Importance of Civic Stewardship in an Era of Public Distrust and Cynicism

In an era of public distrust and cynicism, a daunting task for public administration and public policy is how to rediscover a more substantive role in public affairs. The focus on managerial approaches, technical competency, and adherence to procedural rules will most likely never sustain the normative credibility needed to reconnect the broader citizenry. Something more is needed. In this article a renewed emphasis on democratic citizenship and public ethics is called for in order to reconnect the citizenry so as to confront the normative interdependency of political and economic issues.