They do, actually. I live near Washington, and know a great many civil servants. The entire economy around here is geared to them.

Of course there are good and bad people working for every company. And the civil service is treated much like any other job: it's not necessarily the be-all and end-all of their lives, but they like to feel proud of their work.

Many feel strongly about their work because they see it as helping people. Their ability to "support and defend the Constution of the United States against all enemies" feels a little exaggerated when your job is, say, writing regulations about the safety of bleach or delivering mail. But a great many feel that their jobs directly affect people. Mis-handled chemicals do hurt people; people really need the mail delivered on time. And there are hundreds of thousands of others, usually not earth-shaking but still helping people out.

These things seem minor if you're not directly affected, but most civil servants do want to do their jobs well. The jobs usually aren't "powerful", but they still affect people.
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