At least two developments of recent years, one intellectualand one practical, call into question the strength of apublic service ethic. One is the rise of the public choicemovement, which is predicated on a model of humanbehavior that assumes that people are motivated primarilyby self interest.5 According to this view, because selfinterest is at the root of human behavior, incentives, organizations,and institutions must be designed to recognizeand to take advantage of such motivations. A relateddevelopment, this one arising within government, is thegrowing popularity of monetary incentive systems, especiallyat top organizational levels.6 Extrinsicrewards controlledby one's supervisor are now seen as a major meansfor directing and reinforcing managerial and executivebehavior. These related trendstand in opposition to theview that public service motives energize and direct thebehavior of civil servants.