But private government can also stretch to encompass our off-duty lives, shaping and proscribing our activities as "private" citizens.
Instead, McBain has devised a number of romantic subplots for his detectives, who function as a kind of resident repertory company and whose off-duty lives provide the back stories that give the series its book-to-book continuity.
Curtis adores and respects his subject but doesn't tiptoe timidly around the more sensationalistic aspects of Tracy's life; he's forthright about them, which may be his way of urging us to think of them less as juicy chunks of gossip than as the bits and pieces that make up any mosaic of heavy-duty living.
Another, less serious commenter, joked, "Newport Beach: where your Call of Duty Live Action Roleplaying dreams come true.
There is no greater duty, living in a democracy, than educating future generations about their constitutional rights and responsibilities, teaching them to stand up and make a difference.
Dressing-room mickey-taking has been toned down temporarily as he takes his captaincy duties seriously, living proof that the sharpest minds are worth investing in.
It seems sometimes as though one of the inexplicable duties of living is to give thanks even in bitter moments, and so to ease their bitterness.
I neglected my film-going duties to live in Thomas Mann's Venice, a world so powerfully vivid that the real thing seemed its faint shadow.
He arranged with his overworked wife for lover number two, the A-student Byrne, to fulfil the not very Wonder Woman-like duties of live-in nursemaid.
"The attacks of 9/11 were attacks on America," he said, "and we have a collective responsibility to care for the heroes, from all 50 states, who answered the call of duty, saved lives and helped our nation recover".
