Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
1
Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
Further information: James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, and George H. Pendleton
Full title
An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States
Colloquial name(s) Pendleton Act
Enacted by the
47th United States Congress
Citations
Stat.
ch. 27, 22 Stat. 403
[1]
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
The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (ch. 27, 22 Stat. 403 [1]) of United States is a federal law established in
1883 that stipulated that government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit.[2] The act provided selection of
government employees competitive exams,[2] 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.[2] To enforce the merit system and the judicial system, the law also created the United
States Civil Service Commission.[2] A crucial result was the shift of the parties to reliance on funding from
business[3], since they could no longer depend on patronage hopefuls.
Started during the Chester A. 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.[2] Despite his previous support of the patronage system,[2] Arthur, nevertheless, became an ardent supporter
of civil service reform as president.[2] 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.[2] The law offended machine
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.[2]
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.[2] 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.
Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
References
[1] http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=eDE3AAAAIAAJ& pg=PA403
[2] http:/ / www. digitalhistory. uh. edu/ database/ article_display. cfm?HHID=145
[3] 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.. pp. 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 0-8371-8755-9.
Further reading
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.
• 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.
2
Article Sources and Contributors
Article Sources and Contributors
Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=518605856 Contributors: -- April, -Barry-, Abi79, Acetic Acid, Aesopos, Alansohn, Allens, Allstar86,
Andrevan, AutoGeek, Avoided, BOARshevik, Barrel Roll, BenPharr, Black Sword, Bob Burkhardt, Bobo192, Calor, Chadlupkes, ClaudeMuncey, Cmguy777, Coemgenus, Creationlaw,
Danski14, Darth Panda, DavidLevinson, Dimadick, Dugwiki, Dustimagic, Dying, Dynamite XI, Dzubint, Eastlaw, Enzo Aquarius, Epbr123, Evil Monkey, Flyingcheese, Football79, Gazimoff,
Gilliam, GoldRingChip, GrooveDog, Ground Zero, Gtrmp, Hadal, Hennessey, Patrick, Hmains, Holy-Punisher, Hydriotaphia, Ike9898, Jengod, Jonverve, Juliancolton, JuniperisCommunis,
KConWiki, KProkop, Leftbarrel, Lkseitz, Mav, Maxhawkins, McSly, Metzenberg, Mholland, Mike Rosoft, Monkeyfox, Mrwojo, Nareek, Nishkid64, Nobs01, Nonamer98, Nsayer, PL290, Paul
August, PaulHanson, Penguimn, PitchBlack, Postdlf, PseudoOne, Radiant chains, Reaper Eternal, Reywas92, Rich Farmbrough, RickK, Risker, Rjensen, Ryan Lanham, SNowwis, Scarian, Ser
Amantio di Nicolao, Shadow1, Shanes, Snowolf, Sqush101, SteveSims, Stinkinlicoln1, Svendlarose, THEN WHO WAS PHONE?, The Mystery Man, TheMadBaron, Tom harrison, Trivial,
Turnstep, Ukexpat, Velella, Yanwen, 226 anonymous edits
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:US-GreatSeal-Obverse.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:US-GreatSeal-Obverse.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: U.S. Government
License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
3