¶ … civil service reform itself is still an ongoing process, not yet perfected to a point that satisfies all parties. Even the past reforms have been littered with dissent and the need for further revolutions regarding civil service suits, culminating in two different forms of systems: the merit system and the spoils system. While the spoils system generally gains a horrendously bad reputation, it is without doubt a catalyst that brought about positive reform. And while the merit system has a genuinely "good" idea behind it, there is still basis for concern regarding the ultimate movement toward corruption. In either case, the reform acts brought about by the government regarding civil service have continued to rise up for the benefits of the public service workers.
It is evident that throughout history, there had been ongoing ping-pong relations between presidential administrations and the partisan process. In both the Unit 2 Lecture (2011) and Cayer's "Evolution of the Public Personnel System" (2004),...
This seems to be particularly true whenever the president clashed with Congress, always fighting for control over public service personnel. Whether or not the president favored a spoils system or a merit system, there was always the underlying idea of which system currently puts presidential power over the collective Congress.
The spoils system had been a favorite of many presidents looking to fill their administrations with loyal service workers. Thomas Jefferson was a vanguard for this movement, though Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln were known aficionados of the method (Cayer, 2004). This type of system enabled presidents to award loyal followers certain government positions at the sacrifice of competence. The spoils system hinged on the basis that like-minded individuals would facilitate a more agreeable and thus capable government (Cayer, 2004). On the other hand,…
