May 2015 Online Reader Poll: Why did you join government?

To the general public, government often looks like either some politician on TV or a bored individual in a dingy cubicle wasting an afternoon waiting for someone with dandruff to call their number. But most of what government does has nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act or DMV offices. Government touches people’s lives in manifold ways every day, and in ways that most people never stop to consider. And the people who join government are as diverse as the functions they serve.

When interviewing public-sector workers, the explanations of why they joined government -- whether it’s for a brief stint or a decades-long career -- is telling because it reveals the expectations and prejudices held about government. Regardless of whether those expectations were met by reality, the motivations for joining reveal the character of those who serve in government today.

In an informal and unscientific attempt to better understand the readership of Government Technology and government in general, this is the first monthly online reader poll. Answer the question, leave comments below, laugh, cry and come back next month for more.

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