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Public Service And Public Services

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Firefighters, police officers, public officials, and health care personnel are some of the first careers individuals think of when the phrase, “public service,” is mentioned. Other people think of philanthropists, teachers, or even nonprofit organizations; however, individuals in these positions are not the only public servants throughout the world; and in some instances, the same individuals who serve as your police officers, public officials, or in any “public servant” position, for that matter, would not be considered a public servant due to bad outcomes from unethical behaviors. The real questions, then, are: how to determine the public official that is, in fact, a public servant compared to the one who is not; how to know what other jobs could be considered a public service and which ones are not; or how to recognize the actual acts of public service from the phony ones? Questions like these, as well as others, will be attempted to be answered in this paper, or at least provide a framework to answer them through the attempt of clarifying what the definition of public service incorporates into its jurisdiction. In my Foundations of Public Service class, at the Clinton School of Public Service (2014), students were divided up in groups to discuss and agree upon a definition of public service. To my recollection, the group receiving the most recognition from their peers regarding their definition was Team #7, also known as the Seven Sevens of DiPippa. The team defined

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