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“Public employment must be governed by merit and fairness. Patronage erodes efficiency and public trust. Equal opportunity strengthens institutional credibility.”

Last update Sept. 26, 2026. History

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“Let us be clear. The impulses underlying the dissemination of such untruths are not benign. They have the effect of eroding trust in our vital institutions and conditioning the public to no longer trust them. The destructive effect of this kind of behavior on our democracy cannot be overstated.”

Jeff Flake (1962) American politician

Farewell speech to the U.S. Senate (2018)

“Those who hold the public trust must adhere to the highest ethical standards there are. The job requires it, and the public must demand it.”

Barbara Jordan (1936–1996) American politician

Remarks at the University of Texas at Austin (22 February 1991), as cited in Let me tell you what I've learned https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0292787901: Texas Wisewomen Speak, PJ Pierce, University of Texas Press (2010), p. 17

“The railroad is a great public institution, and I was never an enemy of public institutions. p. 63”

George Washington Plunkitt (1842–1924) New York State Senator

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Chapter 15. Concerning Gas in Politics

“If Women Have An Equal EMPLOYMENT Opportunity Commission, Why Don’t Men Have An Equal FAMILY Opportunity Commission?”

Warren Farrell (1943) author, spokesperson, expert witness, political candidate

Source: Father and Child Reunion (2001), p. 197.

“Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.”

George Washington (1732–1799) first President of the United States

1790s, Farewell Address (1796)

“Public policy does not admit of definition and is not easily explained. It is a variable quantity; it must vary and does vary with the habits, capacities, and opportunities of the public.”

Arthur Kekewich (1832–1907) British judge

Davies v. Davies (1887), L. R. 36 C. D. 364; see also Egerton v. Earl Brownlow, 4 H. L. C. 1.

“The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty. ”

John Quincy Adams (1767–1848) American politician, 6th president of the United States (in office from 1825 to 1829)

“All appointments hurt. Five friends are made cold or hostile for every appointment; no new friends are made. All patronage is perilous to men of real ability or merit. It aids only those who lack other claims to public support.”

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822–1893) American politician, 19th President of the United States (in office from 1877 to 1881)

Letter to William McKinley (27 December 1892)
Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1922 - 1926)

“The fundamental thing in all this is that every workman who is expected by society to remain independent of public relief and capable of self-support must be guaranteed, in so far as that is possible, an opportunity for obtaining those necessaries essential to physical efficiency. Such a standard is the basis of almost everything; for, unless men can retain their physical efficiency, they must degenerate.”

Robert Hunter (author) (1874–1942) American sociologist, author, golf course architect

Source: Poverty (1912), p. 6-7

“In the face of the recent institutional breakdown of trust in business, managers are losing legitimacy. To regain public trust, management needs to become a true profession in much the way medicine and law have…”

Rakesh Khurana (1967) American business academic

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“Public employment must be governed by merit and fairness. Patronage erodes efficiency and public trust. Equal opportunity strengthens institutional credibility.”

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