Civil Service and Bureaucratic Responsiveness

Lecture 13-2

The Search for Competence in the Civil Service

The early days

• Government employment was prestigious

• Employees typically served for many years

The spoils systems

• Introduced following the election of President Andrew Jackson in 1828

• Government jobs were openly traded or bargained for, and used as rewards for the party faithful

• President Garfield was assassinated in 1881 by a disappointed job-seeker

The Pendleton Act and the merit principle

• The Pendleton (or Civil Service) Act of 1893 is the single most significant piece of legislation ever passed affecting public service

• The vast majority of federal government jobs are now filled on the basis of merit

The Pendleton Act and the merit principle

• The Hatch Act (1939) bars civil service workers from certain kinds of political activity

• Clerical and administrative personnel are classified in a “general schedule” of 15 “grades.”

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978

• Streamlined the procedures thought which individuals could be removed from their positions for inadequate performance

• Established s system of merit pay for middle-level managers as an incentive for high-quality work

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978

• Created a Senior Executive Service

• Protected whistle-blowers