Seeking the Public Good: Public Service Motivation and Political Ambition

Many previous studies have shown that public service motivation (PSM) is associated with public sector employment. However, with few exceptions, such studies have focused on unelected positions in public sector bureaucracies, despite many other avenues for public service. Using a nationally representative survey of United States respondents, a survey of federal bureaucrats, and a survey of law students, we show that PSM is associated with ambition for holding elected office, high-level public sector positions, and judicial positions, at least in the United States. Moreover, the results are broadly comparable across different types of ambition (i.e., bureaucratic, electoral, and judicial), suggesting that the PSM dimensions—and especially Attraction to Policy Making (APM)—transcend institutions in explaining individuals’ interest in service in public sector offices of all types.