merit system

(noun)

the process of promoting and hiring government employees based on their ability to perform a job, rather than on their political connections

Related Terms

Examples of merit system in the following topics:

  • Civil Service Reform

    • Hayes took office determined to reform the system of civil service appointments, which had been based on the spoils system since Andrew Jackson was president.
    • Instead of giving federal jobs to political supporters, Hayes wished to award them by merit according to an examination that all applicants would take.
    • The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (ch. 27, 22 Stat. 403) of the United States is a federal law established in 1883 that stipulated that government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit.
    • To enforce the merit system and the judicial system, the law also created the United States Civil Service Commission.
    • Despite his previous support of the patronage system, Arthur, nevertheless, became an ardent supporter of civil service reform as president.

  • Termination

    • The Pendleton Civil Service Reform of United States is a federal law established in 1883 that stipulated that government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit.
    • On the other hand democracy is defined as: "government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system", thus not by non-elected bureaucrats.
    • The Pendleton Civil Service Reform of United States is a federal law established in 1883 that stipulated that government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit.
    • To enforce the merit system and the judicial system, the law also created the United States Civil Service Commission.

  • Jackson's Appointments and Rivalries

    • 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.
    • By the late 1860s, however, reformers began demanding a civil-service system.
    • 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.
    • In state and local governments, the spoils system survived much longer.
    • Describe the creation of the spoils system and its eventual reform

  • Pay Systems

    • Time Rate System: Under this system, the worker is paid by the hour, day, week, or month.
    • The variable portion varies for each worker depending upon his merit rating and the cost-of-living index.
    • Differential Piece Work System: This system provides for higher rewards to more efficient workers.
    • Emerson's Efficiency System: Under this system, minimum time wages are guaranteed.
    • During the late-2000s financial crisis, some law firms began replacing the lockstep system with "merit-based" systems.The lockstep system of compensation has the benefit of being easy to administer, reducing internal competition within firms, and maintaining a single company philosophy.

  • Introduction to the Role of the Government in the Economy

    • America points to its free enterprise system as a model for other nations.
    • The country's economic success seems to validate the view that the economy operates best when government leaves businesses and individuals to succeed -- or fail -- on their own merits in open, competitive markets.
    • But exactly how "free" is business in America's free enterprise system?

  • Staking the Desk: Unequal Funding

    • In 2000, affluent students, students who could otherwise afford to pay for college, received "merit" scholarships worth 82% of the need-based aid received by students with the lowest family incomes.
    • What's more, because colleges want to maintain their rankings in various college ranking systems, colleges favor students with higher standardized test scores and aggressively recruit them using "merit" scholarships.
    • In 2000, affluent students, students who could otherwise afford to pay for college, received "merit" scholarships worth 82% of the need-based aid received by students with the lowest family incomes.
    • Examine the inequality in public school systems and the implications for a student's future

  • Corruption and Reform: Hayes to Harrison

    • The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act in ended the spoils system at the federal level in 1883.
    • A spoils system (also known as a patronage system) is a practice where a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its voters as a reward for their support and as an incentive to keep working for the party (as opposed to a system of awarding offices on the basis of merit independent of political activity).
    • Proponents denounced the spoils system as corrupt and inefficient.
    • The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act in ended the spoils system at the federal level in 1883 and created a bipartisan Civil Service Commission to evaluate job candidates on a nonpartisan merit basis.
    • While few jobs were initially covered under the law, it allowed the President to transfer jobs and their current holders into the system, thus giving the holder a permanent job.

  • Providing Public Services

    • Examples of public goods include fresh air, knowledge, lighthouses, national defense, flood control systems, and street lighting.
    • However, most public services are merit goods, which are services that may be under provided by the market.
    • Examples of merit goods include the provision of food stamps to support nutrition, the delivery of health services to improve the quality of life and reduce morbidity, subsidized housing and, arguably, education.

  • The Bottom Line: Family Background

    • What's more, because colleges want to maintain their rankings in various college ranking systems (e.g., U.S.
    • News & World Report), colleges favor students with higher standardized test scores and aggressively recruit them using "merit" scholarships.
    • In 2000, affluent students, students who could otherwise afford to pay for college, received "merit" scholarships worth 82% of the need-based aid received by students with the lowest family incomes.

  • The Diversity Debate

    • Debates over affirmative action center around the question of whether diversity in the classroom merits a program of state intervention.
    • The institutional practice of slavery, and later segregation, in the United States prevented certain racial groups from entering the school system, particularly systems of higher education, until midway through the 20th century when the Supreme Court case of Brown v.
    • Some believe that racial and ethnic diversity in schools fosters understanding of new cultures and beliefs systems, dispelling stereotypes held by the majority population .