The Founders of the United States had strongly feared a tyrant government rising to power again after the American revolution; therefore, they adopted The Constitution of the United States in the eighteenth century. The Constitution had offered citizens many basic liberties and protections from an overreaching and powerful government, it did not, however, offer a civil service system for the government to follow based upon merit. According to Naff, Riccucci, & Freyss, “Although a civil service has been long feature of the government, a career civil service based upon merit had, until the twentieth century, been a historical novelty” (2014, p. 4). Thus, reform efforts of the American civil service system can be dated back to the very beginning of when the United States was first formed (Naff et al., 2014). Why were demands of reform so necessary in the very beginning of the United States as it was just being formed? The seventh president of the United States, Andrew Jackson had introduced a new concept into office, to award individuals with powerful …show more content…
Garfield created a driving force for the first significant civil service reform (Naff et al., 2014). Charles Guiteau, a officer seeker, felt shorted when Garfield refused to award him a position in his office after winning his 1880 Presidential campaign. Guiteau felt his efforts during Garfield’s campaign were largely responsible for his political victory; therefore, knowing that Chester A. Arthur, Garfield’s Vice President, was a supporter of the spoils system, Guiteau decided to take Garfield’s life to ensure Arthur would become the next President and properly reward him for his efforts (Naff et al., 2014). It became clear that the Spoils System possessed many dangers and reform was desperately needed. Therefore, according to Naff et al., “On January 16, 1883, President Arthur signed the Pendleton Act into law, creating the U.S. Civil Service Commission” (2014, p.
However, Chester Arthur had risen to power through machine politics, once in the White House he surprised Americans by moving past the unfairness of the death of the previous president, Garfield. In January 1883, he signed the Pendleton Civil Service Act, which was a landmark of legislation authorizing that certain federal government jobs be appropriate based on value rather than political connections. The act also took away privileges of workers from being fired for political reasons and did not allow forced political donations from employees. He did not allow the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 be pass because it would have suspended Chinese immigration for up to 10 years, nevertheless Congress went over his veto anyways. Arthur’s government also fought against fraud in the U.S. Postal Service and pushed for the addition of the U.S. Navy. In the White House, Arthur became known for his elegant style and taste for fine furnishings. His most common nicknames in office was the “Gentleman Boss” and “Elegant Arthur”. He reportedly owned 80 pairs of pants and sold the white house
When Thomas Jefferson took office in 1801, after an intense realignment of the majority of office holders from Federalist to Anti-Federalist in the “Revolution of 1800”, there were many policies headed by former Treasurer Alexander Hamilton that were still in place. Instead of doing what would have been expected of him by his peers, and taking steps
In the 1700’s, America gained its independence after the Revolutionary War. While independence seemed like a blessing, it left America with a lot of problems. They created a new government under the Articles of Confederation, but they created a very weak central government. It couldn’t create an army to defend itself, pay the debt to foreign countries, and this would lead to foreign countries losing their respect for the new nation. All these problems lead the people to get rid of their government and create a new one that was more successful. This new Constitution was an outline for the government to follow. One task was to elect a president to lead them. Washington was elected for the job, but was put in a situation where there was a lot of
In 1871, President Grant appointed Arthur as Collector of the port of New York. Arthur, like Grant, was a follower of the Spoils System. He served as vice- President until the time of Garfield's death. Upon becoming President he acted more as a status symbol than a government official. Arthur was always seen with the elite of Washington and other large cities. Congress, at the time, was also trying to limit some of the President's responsibilities.
James Garfield and Boo Radley both tried to make the world a better place. “Garfield sought to finally move forward with his agenda for civil service reform and other initiatives.” (History.com staff NP), This shows that Garfield only wanted to improve civil service and to
At the beginning of this time period, in 1820, the United States government was trying to figure out its identity. Both the Senate and House of Representatives were trying to regulate the executive office. John Quincy Adams addressed this issue in a personal diary while serving as Secretary of State to James Monroe, stating “One of the most remarkable features of what I am witnessing every day is the perpetual struggle in both the House of Congress to control the Executive ー to make it dependent upon the subservient to them” (Doc 1). Following the Panic
James Garfield was assassinated by Charles J. Guiteau after he refused the demands Guiteau had given him. This brought a corruption phase in the United States which led brought more attention from the American citizens. Garfield had written a couple of speeches that the president used in some of his speeches during his presidential campaign and had expectations to be appointed as the US Ambassador of France under the patronage scheme which was known as The Spoils System, this led to the president’s assassination by Garfield after he denied to give in to his demands. The Pendleton Act had insisted on a rules that government jobs should be awarded to positions who qualified for the position. It also required that examinations were to be given to applicants before they were given certain civil service jobs and made it illegal to demote, or fire government employees for political
The verifiable background of the United States has been more than once stamped by fight to keep up the feelings of our various extraordinary pioneers. Joseph J. Ellis ' novel, Founding Brothers: the Revolutionary Generation, offers an outstanding perspective on why this is; as he withdraws to a rate of the beginnings of American political issues. From our outstandingly origination as a nation, a pretty much tumultuous air enveloped administrative issues, which clearly has doubtlessly continued into today 's overall population. With a stand-out combination of laws that are truly planned to change, the governing body can continually put off things by changing laws that say they can 't. This whole time of continually hinting at change law was accomplished by common contentions between our building fathers who, rather than solid issues with one course of action, left the reasonable talk open for constant modification as need be. It was and is useful for issues that change over the whole deal; however in a couple of illustrations it can really hurt the people. An example of this is the issue of national commitment; American political pioneers drudged in finding an answer in the late 18th century, and we continue engaging a losing battle today. Post war national commitment developed as a crisis for legislators; and there were fluctuating appraisals while in transit to manage be taken to pay it back. National commitment in those days, and by in those days clearly here means late
Throughout the rigmarole of political history of the United States of America, the growth of the “fourth branch of government”, the Bureaucracy, has been a prominent, controversial topic. Peter Woll, in his article “Constitutional Democracy and Bureaucratic Power”, and James Q. Wilson, in his article “The Rise of the Bureaucratic State”, discuss this developing administrative branch. The Constitution has no written mention of an “administrative branch”, and today’s Bureaucracy is often tedious, corrupt, and even undemocratic. But such a branch’s development and expansion is necessary in order to keep par with an evolving and changing society.
Any nationwide endeavor across the world over is always faced with a myriad of challenges when one factor in, the interest of different individuals or groups. During the early years of the USA, there were many problems that politicians at the time faced when trying to create and strengthen the country’s Constitution. In the early 1780’s the young country was in a deep depression, and this played a key role in influencing the exercise as it ultimately led to a heated debate about the powers of the National and State governments. Most of the conservative politicians at the time preferred a stronger federal government while state radicals believed that states should have more power since it was in a better position to determine what was best for their citizens (Jilson, 2009). More sticking points divided the founding fathers which threatened the stability and establishment of the USA, such as slavery and federalism.
One bureaucratic reform I would propose would be one through the National Mailing Service. From my experience, I hardly check the mail unless I know an important package is coming in or for the bill from which I haven't signed up to receive online. In this case, I would chose a proposal between devolution and privatization. What I think is wrong with this section of the bureaucracy is that it's importance is not as vital as it once was. I don't suggest just cutting the program, but perhaps downsizing it to a state level to begin with and privatizing depending on the need according to each state. For example, the residents of a state may have greater dependance on the postal service than a resident in California. I suggest devolution to help
The advantages of patronage are when Congress set employee performance standards, high wages, high benefits, and good cost of living adjustments, it changes the lives of each people. Congress also can give protections for those who expose waste or corruption. Some people have advantages when having permanent jobs in the civil service because it helps them make money and provide for their family or themselves. However, the disadvantage is the hatred for those, who are not working in that field, which cause them to become jealous. The civil service system advantages were intended to create a class of administrative employees who were insulated from politics. Employees who were insulated from politics can better judge the true morality of each
Improvement, change and innovation are almost constant, as the service environment remains dynamic in tune to the trend of the society. Civil service reform (CSR) is one of the most intractable yet important challenges for governments and their supporters today. However, CSR might have failed in some states; this is not to say the process is not pertinent as governments and their supporters today seize opportunities availed by the reformation. To buttress this fact, Sarah (2012) posited reformation as a tool touches not only on government’s very purpose of existence, but also on some of its most sensitive, protected areas.
Civil service systems are designed to hire and promote members of the bureaucracy on the basis of merit. The merit principle is the idea that hiring should be based on entrance exams and promotion ratings to reward qualified individuals to produce an administration of skilled and talented people. All civil servant applicants must pass an exam that measures skills related to the particular civil service position they hope to fill. Some civil service exams are general and apply to a wide range of jobs, whereas others are focused on a particular type of job. I do not see how a “merit exam” can truly show how successful a potential civil servant would be performing in a particular position. An exam may be able to measure the extent of their paper knowledge on the position, but does not reflect how well a civil servant would be able to apply their knowledge to their job. Standardized tests are often frowned upon in public schools, with some politicians and scholars arguing that standardized tests measure how well a student can take the test, and does not measure how much he or she has learned. The same applies to these merit exams. I do not believe that a potential bureaucrat should earn their government position through entrance exams. The exam does not measure how successful a bureaucrat would be at performing their job, but rather measures their test-taking abilities. I believe that a potential bureaucrat should have to partake in a two-year-long paid internship in their
By focusing upon the recent experiences of the citizen is has been clear that Civil service in AJ&K has many strengths and suffers from a large number of weaknesses. These should be analyzed professionally and the temptation toward populism avoided. Different branches of civil service require different approaches. First there is need to addressee civil services challenges by suggesting simple ways for it .Selection procedure must be fair in achieving goals of a state. If selection is not on merit then it will reduce efficiency on which whole civil service depends. Base of civil servant is appointing him on merit and he will perform his duty more efficiently towards good governance in a state.