A lot of people I know regard Parks and Rec as a kind of office ripoff set in a government workplace. But I actually prefer Parks and Rec, and I think part of the reason why is that it's one of the few shows to actually portray non-law enforcement related government employees as good people. Alyssa Rosenberg has an excellent post pondering the political subtext of the show:
That small-bore episode-by-episode focus on Pawnee's problems clears the way for an ongoing exploration of the show's real question: whether government can accomplish anything meaningful. Leslie and Ron represent the two extremes of the argument. Everyone else falls somewhere in between: after city planner Mark gets congratulated for a victory over a tenacious speed bump, he explains “I got it lowered two inches. Apparently, what I can achieve in government can literally be measured.” The fact that it takes Leslie forever to fill in the vacant pit behind Ann's house is funny, but it's also a good illustration of the challenges of getting something simple done—as is Leslie's competition with Ron's ex-wife, now the ruthless library director, over who gets to do something productive with the pit. Leslie may waste time mapping all the routes from a prank-prone teenager's house to a statue he's fond of defacing, but it's emblematic of how hard she works on everything, nuisances or not.
Didactic art is bad art, and I don't think Parks and Rec is particularly didactic. But in refusing to answer the above question with an affirmative "no," it's an implicit rebuke to contemporary conservative rhetoric.
And now, Ron Swanson's pyramid of greatness:
