ly must be in adherence with law, the Constitution, and the basic precepts of moral behavior (e.g., honesty and integrity). Conformity to the overriding wishes of citizens or relevant groups is needed to preserve majority rule and minority rights.
Working to further the public's best interest also means that it is necessary to find common ground among competing interests rather than concern with naked self-interest. Symbolically, the public interest represents an attitude with which to look at public policies and programs. Barth (1992) described that as an attitude that claims public issues have equally important means and ends. Instrumentally, the public interest represents an ongoing concern with the effects of policies and programs on individuals and groups, using the bets analysis tools and reasoning possible to obtain unbiased information leading to proactive decisions.
In a somewhat simplistic manner, a public administrator may conclude that the public interest represents a broad if conflicting set of values and expectations regarding the structuring of society and governmental/legal policy. The public's "best" interest, on the other hand, may refer to an overarching set of values, norms or mores that consider the specific effects of a policy or program that may benefit only a selected group of individuals within society. In discussing the public interest in the context of antitrust, Levinson (1997) pointed out that the public interest always involves determining what is and is not within the purview of law; in other words, for any action to be considered as supporting the interests of the public, it must conform to the tenets of law.
However, as Levinson (1997) also noted, law itself is not a fixed entity. At one time in the history of the United States, slavery was legal; a substantial body of law supported the right of one individual to "own" and therefore control the life of another individual. It was ther...