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Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Further information: James Abram Garfield , Chester Alan Arthur , and George Hunt Pendleton
Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
The Pendleton
Civil Service
Reform Act (ch.
27, 22 Stat. 403
Long title
An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States
Nickname(s)
Pendleton Act
Enacted by the 47th United States Congress
Citations
ch. 27, 22 Stat. 403 (http://books.google.com/books?
id=eDE3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA403)
Stat.
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S. 133 by George H. Pendleton (D-OH) on
Passed the Senate on December 27, 1882 (39–5)
Passed the House on January 4, 1883 (155–46)
Signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur on January 16, 1883
V· T
· E (//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Infobox_U.S._legislation&action=edit)
(http://books.google.com/books?id=eDE3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA403)) of United States is a federal law established
in 1883 that stipulated that government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit.[1] The act provided selection
of government employees by competitive exams,[1] rather than ties to politicians or political affiliation. It also made
it illegal to fire or demote government employees for political reasons and prohibits soliciting campaign donations on
Federal government property.[1] To enforce the merit system and the judicial system, the law also created the
United States Civil Service Commission.[1] A crucial result was the shift of the parties to reliance on funding from
business,[2] since they could no longer depend on patronage hopefuls.
Started during the Chester Alan Arthur administration, the Pendleton Act served as a response to the massive
public support of civil service reform that grew following President James Garfield's assassination by Charles Julius
Guiteau.[1] Despite his previous support of the patronage system,[1] Arthur became an ardent supporter of civil
service reform as president.[1] The Act was passed into law on January 16, 1883. The Act was sponsored by
Senator George H. Pendleton, Democratic Senator of Ohio, and written by Dorman Bridgeman Eaton, a staunch
opponent of the patronage system who was later first chairman of the United States Civil Service Commission.
However, the law would also prove to be a major political liability for Arthur.[1] The law offended machine
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politicians within the Republican Party and did not prove to be enough for the party's reformers; hence, Arthur lost
popularity within the Republican Party and was unable to win the party's Presidential nomination at the 1884
Republican National Convention.[1]
The law only applied to federal government jobs: not to the state and local jobs that were the basis for political
machines. At first, the Pendleton Act only covered very few jobs, as only 10% of the US government's civilian
employees had civil service jobs.[1] However, there was a ratchet provision whereby outgoing presidents could
lock in their own appointees by converting their jobs to civil service. After a series of party reversals at the
presidential level (1884, 1888, 1892, 1896), the result was that most federal jobs were under civil service. One
result was more expertise and less politics.
Contents
1 See also
2 References
3 Further reading
3.1 19th century
3.2 20th century
See also
Civil Service
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
Hatch Act of 1939
National Civil Service Reform League
References
1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=145
2. ^ Quigley, Carroll (1966). Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time
(http://www.amazon.com/Tragedy-Hope-History-World-Time/dp/094500110X/ref=sr_1_1?
ie=UTF8&qid=1347944945&sr=8-1&keywords=tragedy+and+hope). San Pedro, CA: MacMillian Co. p. 71.
ISBN 094500110X.
Hoogenboom, Ari (1961). Outlawing the Spoils: A History of the Civil Service Reform Movement, 1865-1883.
University of Illinois. ISBN 0-313-22821-3.
Van Riper, Paul P. (1958). History of the United States Civil Service. Row, Peterson and Co. ISBN 0-8371-87559.
Further reading
19th century
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20th century
losrFoulke (1919). Fighting the Spoilsmen: Reminiscences of The Civil Service Reform Movement
(http://books.google.com/?id=s8pAAAAAIAAJ). New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
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Women's Auxiliary to the Civil Service Reform Association (1907). Bibliography of Civil Service Reform and
Related Subjects (2nd ed.) (http://books.google.com/?id=R3Y_AAAAIAAJ). New York. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Pendleton_Civil_Service_Reform_Act&oldid=563770405"
Categories: 1883 in law 1883 in the United States Civil service in the United States Public administration
United States federal government administration legislation History of the United States (1865–1918)
Presidency of Chester A. Arthur Assassination of James A. Garfield
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