Page "Meritocracy" Paragraph 11

In the United States, the United States Civil Service utilized the Spoils System from 1828 until the assassination of United States President Garfield by a disappointed office seeker in 1881 proved its dangers.

Two years later in 1883, the system of appointments to the United States Federal Bureaucracy was revamped by the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, partially based on the British meritocratic civil service that had been established years earlier.

The act stipulated that government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit, through competitive exams, rather than ties to politicians or political affiliation.

It also made it illegal to fire or demote government employees for political reasons.

To enforce the merit system and the judicial system, the law also created the United States Civil Service Commission.

In the modern American meritocracy, the president can only hand out a certain number of jobs which must be approved by the Senate.