The Politics of Civil Service Reform

Between passage of the Civil Service Act of 1883 and almost a century later of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, the conception of civil service reform has changed greatly. ¹ Reform in 1883 meant starting the process of eliminating the spoils system and of implementing a merit system based on the use of competitive examinations in filling federal jobs. In 1978, there was full awareness that the danger of political subversion of the personnel operation still existed, for memories of such systematic subversion during the Nixon administration were still fresh. However, the predominant objective of reform had become to make merit a reality rather than a meaningless label for a personnel system which was widely viewed as so enmeshed in red tape, so inflexible, and so inefficient that it was largely responsible for the failure of government to “work.”