I.

Introduction

Spoils System, in the United States, practice of making appointments to public office and of giving employment in the public service on the basis of political affiliation or personal relationship (nepotism) rather than on the fitness or merit of the appointees. It constitutes an extensive form of political patronage. Also included by some authorities in the meaning of spoils system are such practices as favoritism in the award of contracts for public works or other public purposes and the expenditure of public funds to the advantage of favored individuals.

II.

Origins

The spoils system originated during the colonial period and flourished in state governments after 1800. Before 1829, however, appointments to the federal service were made on the basis of “fitness for office,” as enunciated by George Washington. In accordance with that principle, Washington had included in his cabinet Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, two men of outstanding ability who were the leaders of opposing political groups. Washington's successors were not so tolerant of opposition in major positions, but not until the election of Andrew Jackson as president in 1828 was the principle of “fitness” abandoned for the minor offices.

III.

Jackson's Policy

Politically, Jackson was motivated by three principal considerations. As the representative of the interests of the farmers and artisans of the expanding western frontier, he was determined to end the domination of the federal government by the representatives of the financial interests of New England and of the aristocratic planters of the southern states. A second motivation was his fear of the development of a bureaucracy with an interest in perpetuating its hold on the government. Thus, he favored a policy of rotation in office. Jackson's third motivation was his desire to punish his political opponents by removing them and their followers from office. The course he followed became known as the spoils system from a speech justifying it made by the statesman William L. Marcy, who declared in 1832 that he perceived “nothing wrong in the maxim that to the victors belong the spoils of the enemy.”

The precedent set by Jackson was followed by his successors and by the states and local communities generally. It reached its peak during the period of Reconstruction in the years following the American Civil War, when federal control of the defeated southern states created unparalleled opportunities for patronage. As it developed, the spoils system became pernicious. It tended to place party interests above the public welfare and factional interests within a party above the interests of the party as a whole, resulting in the development of powerfully entrenched political groups that threatened to dominate political life and divert government to the service of selfish interests.

IV.

Reform

The evils of the system aroused protests and inspired reformers to propose corrective measures. During the latter part of the 19th century the scope of political patronage gradually decreased as a result of four principal factors: the institution and growth of the civil service or merit system of making appointment to positions in government service, which began in the federal service after the passage of the Pendleton Act in 1883; the institution by several hundred local communities of the council-manager form of municipal government, which had the effect of strengthening and extending the merit system; the increasing tendency toward the professionalization of public service; and the emancipation of municipal school systems from political control. The spoils system, however, could not be completely eliminated; it is still in effect in some states, counties, and municipalities. See also Civil Service.