Weber & Edward Snowden

“To take a stand, to be passionate--ira et studium--is the politician's element, and above all the element ofthe political leader. His conduct is subject to quite a different, indeed, exactly the opposite, principle of responsibility from that of the civil servant. The honor of the civil servant is vested in his ability to execute conscientiously the order of the superior authorities, exactly as if the order agreed with his own conviction.

This holds even if the order appears wrong to him and if, despite the civil servant's remonstrances, the

authority insists on the order. Without this moral discipline and self-denial, in the highest sense, the whole apparatus would fall to pieces. The honor of the political leader, of the leading statesman, however, lies precisely in an exclusive personal responsibility for what he does, a responsibility he cannot and must not reject or transfer.”  - Weber, “Politics as a Vocation”

This quote from Weber from his essay is fairly interesting and struck me because of current events.  One of the main themes in Weber’s work is the division between political leaders and civil servants.  The two comprise what is called “the state”.  But they are completely different in their function and philosophy.  According to Weber, the main characteristic of the politician is that he has to be passionate about his role; he has to have his own political views that he strives for.  This is his central element - it’s what drives him.  But the civil servant has to embrace his role as a veritable cog in the wheel.  He has to essentially let go of any personal views and even if its morally disgusts him, to carry out the views and policies of his leaders in power.  If these two are switched, then the state edifice crumbles.  The politicians can’t be a mindless drone; otherwise, nothing politically will happen - a leader needs to have a vision.  A civil servant can’t be a passionate ideologue, otherwise he will make a terrible civil servant.

This quote struck me because of recent events in politics, namely the controversy surrounding Edward Snowden.  However one feels about him - hero or traitor - Snowden is the epitome of what Weber is talking about should NOT happen when it comes to civil servants.  Snowden was a passionate believer in anti-spying in a small government staying with its constitutional bounds.  But because of this, he’s also a terrible civil servant because he could not stomach what his leaders were commanding him to do.  It is the civil servant’s job to swallow what he has to do; otherwise you have leaks and scandals like the one happening now.  It is clear the government has to do a better job of picking people who will embrace their role as cogs in the wheel.