Does character count in politics and public service?

For the purpose of this poll, character is defined as;

Willing and honest accountability to any standards of conduct higher than the loosest interpretation of the law; the standards of conduct that every higher standard is higher than.

Where else but in government, do enormous amounts of power and resources find themselves protected only by "trust" in human nature and in human beings finding themselves in control of enormous power and resources in an environment where either can be squandered without consequence?