ABSTRACT
The industrial unions formed the Congress of Industrial Organizations. They took up the banner of civil rights in the South, where they began holding integrated meetings. The development of the merit system was an outgrowth of the reform movement of the 1870s and 1880s. Before merit exams, civil service appointments were often rewards for political patronage. Facilitating or decreasing job opportunities in civil service for individuals belonging to a particular racial or ethnic group will have widespread effects, both within the civil service and throughout the nation. Merit exams are given at every grade level of civil service for entry and promotion. American merit exams are more practical, rather than academic, in orientation, an orientation which distinguishes them from merit exams in other countries. Supreme Court actions gave legality to a shift from non-discrimination, equal opportunity initiatives to a civil rights policy committed to integration and proportionate representation of minorities.
