The business of government is objective in nature, already decided in its substance for itself (§ 287), and is to be carried out and made actual by individuals. Between the two there is no immediate natural connection; individuals are therefore not determined for this by natural personality and birth. The objective moment for their determination to these offices is the cognition and the proof of their capacity — a proof which secures for the state what it requires, and, as its sole condition, at the same time secures for every citizen the possibility of devoting himself to the universal estate.