Public Employees Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Public Employees - Essay Example This essay discusses the benefits of the patronage system versus the merit system for public employee. First, the patronage system refers to a system where public employees are hired or dismissed based on the support of an individual candidate or the political system. When a candidate belonging to a certain political party wins an election, they have the right to appoint a given number of individuals into public positions (Farazmand, 2007). This is the real meaning of the patronage system that is commonly referred to as the spoils system. The appointment of these individuals is based on political support rather than merit as the appointment criteria. Although the patronage system exists across the various levels in the US government, the number of positions offered through this system has reduced drastically since the 1880s. In fact, the system existed in the US until 1883 with the enactment of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883. In 1820, congress set a limit of the federal administrators to four years and this lead to an increase in the public employees’ turnover (Dautrich and Yalof, 2013). By the 1860s, the patronage system and the civil war had led to increased corruption and widespread inefficiency in the public service and had spread to low rank government positions. There are numerous benefits associated with the patronage or spoilers system. To start with, the system helps put in place a well-organized political system that rewards campaign workers. The system also puts individuals who agree with the political agenda in power thus promotion cooperation, trust and loyalty within the public service. The system ensures continuous turnover and this brings new individuals and ideas into the system. This system was replaced by the Merit system when the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 was enacted (Dautrich and Yalof, 2013). The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 specified that public jobs