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Civil Service Reform Analysis

Decent Essays

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.

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