The Spoils System is defined in the U.S., as the practice of making appointments to public office and of giving employment in the public service on the basis of political affiliation or personal relationship rather than based on merit. It is an extreme form of political patronage and favoritism that originated during the colonial period but flourished in state administrations after the 19th century. The opposite of the spoils system is the merit system, established in the U.S. government system in 1883, which promoted and hired government employees based on their ability to perform a job, rather than on their political relationships. The spoils system has a negative impact on the government because it produces a corrupt government that is more concerned with political party favoritism than with the needs of the public. A merit system is ultimately better because it examines federal employees on their specialized skills and education in a way that filters out the incompetent workers and leaves only the most skilled workers. The merit system paved the way for more expertise and less politics in government. Before this extensive form of the patronage system, appointments to government jobs were decided on the basis of fitness for office. This was first seen when George Washington included two skilled leaders of opposing parties in his cabinet, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. It was not until the election of Andrew Jackson in 1829 that changed things for the worse for civil service. In his inauguration speech, Jackson declared the need to restore the federal government, which had been controlled by Democratic-Republicans since the beginning of the 19th century. Jackson was motivated by three principles to reform civil servic... ... middle of paper ... ...ical affiliation might foster the two party system, it ultimately caused stress and tense conditions between government leaders and appointees. Whether if you supported the spoils system or not during office, government leaders, especially the president, were preoccupied with deciding who to hire and where in order to improve their political status. This prevented most leaders from performing their primary tasks and duties. The merit system successfully avoids this major conflict by allowing for the Civil Service Commission to regulate the system and help hire sufficient employees for each position. Today, more than 90 percent of the 2.7 million federal civilian employees are insured by merit systems. The Pendleton Act laid the basis for a permanent system based on merit. The Act paved the way for minorities so that they could obtain a government occupation, too.
Throughout his presidency, Andrew Jackson was regarded as both a tyrant (Document E) as well a democratic rembrandt. However, by the conclusion of his rule, Andrew Jackson’s America had emerged as a pseudo democracy, strongly supported and advocated for, but falling short and ultimately failing. The drastic reforms during the Age of Jackson brought about radical changes to the young nation that would be felt throughout the country and would set the foundation for politics today. President Andrew Jackson reformed the American voting system, made significant moves against the National Bank, sparked the beginning of democratic reform movements, and most importantly gave the Common Man a voice in the government. These democratic initiatives, however, were not seen everywhere as America was slowly divided by differing views on contentious topics and individualistic ideals. Jacksonian America, did not promote the democratic
Jackson’s spoils system opened government positions to only his supporters and he had little tolerance for
The Pendleton Civil Service Act classified certain jobs, removed them from the ranks, and set up a Civil Service Commission to oversee a system based on merit and not political stance. The commission draws up the rules governing examinations for those positions that Congress places in the classified civil service.
The Federalist, No.10 explains the nature of factions within the government and how they can harm the implementation of proper policies and
He enacted the tenure of office act and resulted in hiring and firing people from the cabinet which was named the spoils system. His political opponents thought that Andrew Jackson made his decisions out of his personal emotions and that he was a corrupt president hence the nickname the spoils system which arose from their critical and disrespectful attitudes. Jackson believed in breaking father to son succession in political offices hence enforced rotation of staff to reduce corruption and promote development. His strategy promoted patriotism as he granted official vacancies to those who proved they were working for the country and would do anything for it. This system opened doors to several political offices and endeavors outside the Whitehouse, which lead to the purchase of offices in various regions and political campaigns for various seats due to disinheriting the positions from father to
Andrew Jackson had many significant contributions to the democratic state of the country. One of those contributions, as stated in document B, was Jackson’s victory of the 1928 Presidential election. What this election did was accelerate the transfer of power from the national elite to the common-man; the universal-white-men now had a larger role in the government. As the graph in document A shows, the methods of electing Presidential electors before Jackson’s Presidency was for-the-most-part dominated by state legislature, it was during Jackson’s administration by which the people were electing Presidential electors. As President, Jackson sought to rid the government of all its corrupt officials. This is backed up by the information in document D, which states that Jackson believed that the offices should be rotated every four years and filled by the people. The same document states that Jackson believed the president should serve a single term of no more than four or six years; the senators should have similar constraints with subjection to removal. All of this was fueled by his theory that there was more to be gained with the rotation of office holders that the long continuance of them and that office were not created to give certain men support rather than help the people, as ex...
By the time Jackson came to power, the nation had been drastically changed by the Industrial Revolution. The simple, pastoral, agricultural lifestyle was being replaced by the manufacturing world, of cities and factories. Politically, the nation was in great turmoil. There was still an everlasting debate among men in power, over what should prevail, the rights of the states, or the rights of the Federal Government. If not for several personal reasons, Jackson would have been a staunch advocator of states rights. The right to vote was still a major issue, the middle class feeling robbed of power in governmental decisions, the upperclass feeling threatened by the growth of the middleclass. However, Jackson brought with him many new ideas and principles. Since he himself had very modest roots, he sympathized with the middle and lower classes. He had worked for everything he had of value in life, and he acknow...
The Age of Jackson, from the 1820's to the 1830's, was a period of American history full of contradictions, especially in regard to democracy. The period saw an increase in voter participation, nominating committees replaced caucuses, and electors began to be popularly elected. Yet, all of these voting changes affected only a minority of the American people: White, Anglo-Saxon males. So, though one can easily tell that White, Anglo-Saxon males were gaining
The election of Andrew Jackson as President of the United States changed the customary politics. President Jackson focused on the common man, which was unusual for a president to care more about the common man than the ongoing trend toward a greater voter participation. Jackson’s election was revolutionary because he met a different criteria for president rather than previous presidents, he increased the rules and overall power of the President, also given his popularity for focusing on the common man throughout his term his actions as President did little to nothing to aid the common man.
A meritocracy is the system in which success comes from hard work and talent. Malcolm Gladwell thinks that Canadian hockey players aren't an example of meritocracy because they're chosen based on their date
One of the things that made Andrew Jackson unique and contributed to the style and tone of the new political age was his commitment to the idea of democracy. By democracy, Jackson meant majoritarian rule. “The people are the government”, he said, “administering it by their agents; they are the Government, the sovereign power”. In his message to Congress he announced his creed: “The majority is to govern,” he declared; and he repeated this commitment at every opportunity. He felt that the electorate should select all its officials in Washington, starting with the President. Jackson advocated a single term of either four or six years for the chief executive and he proposed this change to Congress. Jackson also felt that Senators should be elected to four-year terms by the people, not by the state legislatures. He would even have the electorate select its federal judges for terms of seven years which indicated his commitment to rotation of office as a means of democratizing the government. (Schlesinger pp.314, 402-406)
One of the finest military heroes during the War of 1812, and an independent and diligent man, Andrew Jackson left a permanent influence upon American politics and presidency after he sworn in as the seventh President of the United States on March 4th, 1829. Within the eight years of presidency, Jackson engendered a potent and corrupt political party, which was composed of his supporters during the election of 1828. Consequently, his provocative and controversial behavior in office aroused his adversaries to organize the Whig party, which strongly opposed Jackson’s economic, political, and social views during his presidency. Since Jackson and the Congress did not agree with each other’s views quite often, his drive for synthesizing political
A main characteristic of the Jacksonian Era was the fight for the common man. As the United States grew in size and age, the stratification of society was inevitable. In the 1820's class distinctions became major issues, greatly due to an unchanging and small upper class. This greatly detracted from the American ideal of equality when it came to economic opportunities. The upper class us...
Meritocracy, unlike aristocracy, is the system in which talented people are rewarded and promoted to leadership positions based on their merit. According to James Whitehurst, meritocracy “now refers to organizations where the best people and ideas win.” However, as true as it may sound, meritocracy in America is still a myth and is not a certainty. In the article “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack,” McIntosh’s disdain of meritocracy when she described as “I must give up the myth of meritocracy.” She mentioned the meritocracy myth because in reality, many people who lack talents and experience can still climb the upward mobility ladder and become wealthier while the rest of
Merit selection was originally created to remove politics from the courts. The idea was first adopted by Missouri during the 1940's, at the times judges where influenced by politicians who made contributions to their political campaign and in return as the saying goes "one hand washes the other". Merit selection was designed for the specific purpose of eliminating the influence that politicians once had on judges. Merit selection was created to resolve this serious issue but this new form of appointing a judge does not come without is negative points.