Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act: Information from Answers.com

The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (ch. 27, 22 Stat. 403) of United States federal law established the United States Civil Service Commission, which placed most federal government employees on the merit system and marked the end of the so-called spoils system. The act provided for some government jobs to be filled on the basis of competitive exams.

Started during the Chester A. Arthur administration, the Pendleton Act served as a response to President James Garfield's assassination by Charles Julius Guiteau. The Act was passed into law on January 16, 1883. The Act was sponsored by Senator George H. Pendleton, Democrat of Ohio, and written by Dorman Bridgeman Eaton, a staunch opponent of the patronage system who was later first chairman of the United States Civil Service Commission. The most famous commissioner was Theodore Roosevelt (1889-96).

The law only applied to federal government jobs: not to the state and local jobs that were the basis for political machines. At first it covered very few jobs, but there was a ratchet provision whereby outgoing presidents could lock in their own appointees by converting their jobs to civil service. After a series of party reversals at the presidential level (1884, 1888, 1892, 1896), the result was that most federal jobs were under civil service. One result was more expertise and less politics. An unintended result was the shift of the parties to reliance on funding from business, since they could no longer depend on patronage hopefuls. The act also prohibits soliciting campaign donations on Federal government property.

Contents

1 See also
2 References
3 Further reading
- 3.1 1800's
- 3.2 1900's

References

Hoogenboom, Ari (1961). Outlawing the Spoils: A History of the Civil Service Reform Movement, 1865-1883. University of Illinois. ISBN 0313228213.
Van Riper, Paul P. (1958). History of the United States Civil Service. Row, Peterson and Co. ISBN 0837187559.

Bernard, George S. (1885). Civil Service Reform Versus The Spoils System: The Merit Plan For The Filling of Public Offices Advocated In A Series Of Articles Originally Published In A Virginia Journal. New York: John B. Alden. http://books.google.com/books?id=89-HAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
Boston Civil Service Reform Association (1882). Prize Essays On Civil Service Reform. Boston: Geo. H. Ellis. http://books.google.com/books?id=4H6PWiF1xZ4C. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
Clarke, William Harrison (1887). The Civil Service Law: A Defense Of Its Principles, With Corroborative Evidence From The Works Of Many Eminent American Statesment. New York: Charles T. Dillingham. http://books.google.com/books?id=JBFJAAAAIAAJ. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
Dawson, George Francis (1888). "XIII. Civil Service Reform". The Republican Campaign Text-Book for 1888. New York: Brentano's (For the Repulibcan National Committee). http://books.google.com/books?id=oOZ1KwhC8xAC&pg=PA194. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
Fish, Carl Russell (1882). The Civil Service and The Patronage. Boston: Geo. H. Ellis. http://books.google.com/books?id=6CEIAAAAIAAJ. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
Foster, William Eaton (1882). The Civil-Service Reform Movement. Boston: Geo. H. Ellis. http://books.google.com/books?id=IxFJAAAAIAAJ. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
Hunt, Gaillard (October 1885). "A Clerk's View of Civil Service Reform". The United Service. A Monthly Magazine, Devocted To The Interests Of The Military, Naval, And Civil Service XIII: 452–455. http://books.google.com/books?id=CMwCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA452. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
National Civil Service Reform League (1883). Proceedings At The Annual Meeting of The National Civil Service Reform League. New York: William S. Gottsberger. http://books.google.com/books?id=IDM1AAAAIAAJ. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
National Civil Service Reform League (1891). Civil Service Reform In The National Service 1889-1891: Six Reports Of The Special Investigating Committee. New York: William S. Gottsberger. http://books.google.com/books?id=G4PXcgSTOwIC. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
Patton, J. Harris (1884). "XLIV. Civil Service Reform". The Democratic Party: Its Political History and Influence. New York: Ford, Howard, & Hulbert. pp. 310–313. http://books.google.com/books?id=3TFJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA310. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
Prentiss, George L. (1877). Our National Bane; Or, The Dry-Rot In American Politics. A Tract For The Times Touching Civil Service Reform. New York: Anson D. F .Randolph & Company. http://books.google.com/books?id=zDkeAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
Roosevelt, Theodore (May 1886). "The Present Position Of Civil Service Reform". The New Princeton Review I (3): 362–372. http://books.google.com/books?id=CPjQAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA362. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
U.S. Congress, Senate (1888). Operations Of The Civil Service, Report No. 2373 to the U.S. Senate, 50th Congress, 1st Session. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. http://books.google.com/books?id=py4UAAAAIAAJ. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
Ward, Lester F. (July 1889). "True And False Civil Service Reform". Belford's Monthly III (18): 202–210. http://books.google.com/books?id=1ErOAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA202. Retrieved 2008-08-27.

1900's

losrFoulke (1919). Fighting the Spoilsmen: Reminiscences of The Civil Service Reform Movement. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. http://books.google.com/books?id=s8pAAAAAIAAJ. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
Women's Auxiliary to the Civil Service Reform Association (1907). Bibliography of Civil Service Reform and Related Subjects (2nd ed.). New York. http://books.google.com/books?id=R3Y_AAAAIAAJ. Retrieved 2009-08-28.

v • d • e Civil service (government employment)

Main Articles	Public sector · Public administration · Public services · Civil service reform in developing countries · Civil service commission · Diplomatic service

Civil services of the world	Australia · Bangladesh (Commission) · Canada (Commission, Civil Service Act 1918) · China (Imperial examination) · European Union · France · Germany (Beamter) · Hong Kong (Civil Service Bureau) · India (Admin service, Kerala Comission) · Ireland · Italy · Japan · Malaysia · New Zealand · Nigeria · Northern Ireland · Pakistan · Singapore (Commission) · Sri Lanka · United Kingdom (Minister, Commissioner, Diplomatic Service)

United States	United States (WG, GS, FS, SES, ES) · U.S. Civil Service Reform · United States Civil Service Commission · Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act · Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 · Spoils system · Merit system

Categories	Government occupations · Civil service by country · UK Civil Service · US Civil Service · Civil Service of India · Civil service of Pakistan · Civil Service of Sri Lanka

See also: Executive branch · Bureaucrat · Bureaucracy · Undersecretary · Full-time equivalent

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Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act

Pendleton Act