The Spoils System

In American politics, a spoils system (or patronage system) is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its voters as a reward for working toward victory. In such a system, jobs are also awarded as incentives so individuals will continue working for the party. This type of practice is in contrast to a merit-based system, in which political offices are awarded to individuals with the highest merit, regardless of political activity.

The term was derived from the phrase, "to the victor belong the spoils of the enemy," first uttered by New York Senator William L. Marcy in reference to the victory of Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party in the election of 1828. In other nations, spoils systems are common, particularly in areas traditionally governed by tribal organizations or kinship groups.

Jackson's Appointments

Before March 4, 1829, moderation had prevailed in the transfer of political power from one presidency to another. Supporters of newly elected President Andrew Jackson had been lavished with promises of positions in return for political support, and these promises were honored by an astonishing number of removals after Jackson assumed power. A total of 919 officials were removed from government positions—nearly 10 percent of all such posts.

The Jackson administration attempted to explain this unprecedented purge as reform, or constructive turnover; however, in the months following the changes, it became obvious that the sole criterion for the extensive turnover was political loyalty to Andrew Jackson. The most targeted organization within the federal government was the Postal Service. At that time, the Postal Service was the largest department in the federal government and had even more personnel than the war department. Following Jackson's victory, 423 postmasters—most with extensive records of good service—were deprived of their positions in a single year. The new emphasis on loyalty as opposed to competence would have a long-term negative effect on the efficiency of the federal government.

Reform of the Spoils System

President after president continued to use the spoils system to encourage citizens to vote in a particular way. By the late 1860s, however, reformers began demanding a civil-service system. After the assassination of James A. Garfield by a rejected office-seeker in 1881, the calls for civil service reform intensified. The end of the spoils system at the federal level eventually came with the passage of the Pendleton Act in 1883, which created a bipartisan Civil Service Commission to evaluate job candidates on a nonpartisan merit basis. While few jobs were covered under the law initially, the law was gradually expanded by each successive president. The separation between political activity and the civil service was made even stronger with the Hatch Act of 1939, which prohibited federal employees from engaging in many political activities.

In state and local governments, the spoils system survived much longer. The Tammany Hall ring survived well into the 1930s, until New York City reformed its civil service. Illinois modernized its bureaucracy in 1917 under Frank Lowden, but Chicago held on to patronage in city government until the city agreed to end the practice in the Shakman Decrees of 1972 and 1983. Modern variations on the spoils system are often described as "the political machine."

"In Memoriam—Our Civil Service As It Was"

This Harper's Weekly cartoon (1877), depicting civil service as it was under Andrew Jackson, shows President Jackson riding a giant pig; the words, "bribery," "fraud," "spoils," and "plunder," as well as the phrase, "To the victors belong the spoils. A. Jackson" are engraved underneath.