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NARRATOR: The Pendleton Civil Service Act was aimed at eliminating the rampant corruption in the federal government of the late 1800s. It addressed a method that had been developed to finance costly political campaigns, called the Spoils System.

ERIC FONER: Jackson is said to introduce the Spoils System, although, certainly there was nothing new about politicians appointing their friends and supporters to office. But the phrase comes from William Marcy, a Jacksonian leader in New York, "to the victor belongs the spoils." And what that meant was that when the president comes in, he can kick out all the office holders and appoint his own.

NARRATOR: Make a contribution during the campaign and you could essentially buy a federal job for yourself or for a family member.

ERIC FONER: They used public office as a way of building up the political party in a much more effective and full way than previous politicians have done.

NARRATOR: This practice diluted the federal bureaucracy. Politicians wrangled over who would get these patronage jobs, and appointees were often unqualified or incompetent.

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In 1881, when President James Garfield, an advocate of reform, was assassinated by a man who'd failed to get a patronage job, there were calls for change. In January 1883, Congress finally passed the Pendleton Act, named for its Democratic Senate sponsor, George Pendleton.

It established a civil service commission to make sure that federal employees were hired based on merit rather than on political connections.

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The Pendleton Act required job applicants to pass competitive exams to obtain certain jobs. By 1897, it covered 86,000 jobs for almost half of all federal workers. The act resulted in a more competent government workforce. But it had the unintended consequence of leading the political parties to rely more heavily than ever on contributions from business interests to fund their campaigns, an issue that remains at the forefront of politics today.