The public interest is the highest standard for bureaucratic action in American
government. While the importance of this standard ebbs and flows in the literature, the
eminence of it remains unquestioned as the North Star for the American ship of state.
As the highest standard in American politics and policy, this standard must be formed
democratically. In this dissertation, I examine the formation of the public interest
standard through the lens of citizen-bureaucratic communication, using the theory of
communicative action advanced by the contemporary German social and political
philosopher, J????rgen Habermas. I support the use of such a theoretical framework in
America by examining the importance of communication for the American pragmatist
philosopher, John Dewey. I examine the ramifications of communication in the
American democratic state as foundational for the formation and continued expression of
the public interest throughout the institution of the American executive branch