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REDUCING THE SPOILS SYSTEM AND CORRUPTION FROM GOVERNMENT HIRING One of the great perquisites of power is rewarding those who helped you gain that power. The hiring of friends
and associates who lacked either the skill or ability to perform their jobs deflated the value and performance of government
in the early 19th Century. Ultimately, it took the entire century for legislative changes to be enacted to curb the excesses
of cronyism and then, only after a great tragedy. The Pendleton Act imposed a test for civil service. This exam
is still in use today. The act makes it illegal to fire or demote for political reasons government workers who are covered
by the law. This law was discussed recently when it was alleged that "Scooter" Libby, convicted of four felony counts
while Chief of Staff for Vice President Cheney, may have leaked the name of a CIA employee for political reasons knowing that
disclosure of her identity would compromise her ability to do her job. When the law was passed, only ten
percent of the government's 132,000 employees were covered under the law. Now, more than ninety
percent of 2.7 million Federal employees are covered. Under this law, political contributions and political
service are illegal for those Federal employees.
Some see the Pendleton Act as the so-called "Magna Carta" of Civil Service reform. What is meant
by that statement?
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