Introduction

Civil service, merit system, and at-will employment are all important concepts for public administration given that they are forms of human resources management. These approaches relate to issues of hiring, promoting and terminating employees, and were developed with the objective of ensuring that managers attain the required priorities in their endeavors. Patronage, on the other hand, has been there since the 19th century and continues to dominate the current senior government appointments. Discussing these proponents will help clarify their value and importance for public administration.

Part 1 – Define and Distinguish between Civil Service, Merit System, and At-Will Employment

Civil Service entails the permanent professional branches of the government’s administration that tends to exclude the military, elected politicians and judicial branches. Professional experience is important during the hiring process in these positions while the promotions are done from within. Civil servants performing civil service are found on every level of government.

The merit system, on the other hand, was developed to counter the patronage abuses in government. This system tends to be rigorous on promotion, selection and termination of employees compared to the civil service. It was established to reduce the many incompetent government workers who were in their jobs because of favors and patronage. The merit system ensures that the employees that have been hired are more qualified since it follows a due process and predetermined rules.

At-will employment system on its part is basically one that allows the employee to quit the job for any reason at any time, and the employer can also fire the employee for any reason at any time.  It was a system that obviously favored employers.  It allowed any worker to be let go or fired for any reason.

In comparing civil service, the merit system, and at-will employment, these concepts can be considered by a public administrator to be vitally important to understand.   It is best to remember that the merit system improved the qualifying process and professionalism of the civil servants in government.   Through having this system, the civil servants were able to become professionals who were respected, well-paid, and certainly qualified to hold these positions.  It also meant that the at-will employment approach had to be reconsidered in the public sector because of the qualified civil servants and their growing value to the professionalism of government itself.

Part 2- Describe the Trend to Loosen Merit Systems to At-Will Systems

Moving from the merit system to the at-will system was meant to ensure that there was efficiency with regards to hiring and firing of employees due to the discretion placed on the management. At-will systems hold employees more accountable and responsible for their jobs without having them enjoy full, absolute protections. The merit system was also loosened to alter the way employees were promoted instead of basing it only on seniority. The big problem emerging with the at-will system was bad supervisors making faulty, bad decisions towards employees. If the supervisor is good, then the at-will system is fine.

Another important component of the trend to loosen the merit systems is to qualify candidates with greater flexibility. Due to the traditional merit system’s qualifying process, sometimes job candidates could not meet the standards of qualifying, and they were unable to be hired because of such rigid standards. The traditional merit system obviously had many rules, standards, and paperwork. The loosening of the traditional merit system to this merit light system was meant to find a balance between these two opposite systems.

The Merit Light Systems tend to function in an orderly way though they allow for more managerial discretion. It was brought about to give more power to supervisors and loosen absolute protections for employees. Pay is usually based on performance and promotions are based on productivity. The merit light system also enlarges the possible pool of qualified applicants and permits the review standards to be lighter and looser in hiring these prospective employees.   At the same time, the merit light system does not adopt very loose standards of the at-will system where the public employer can fire these employees for any reason at any time. One of the positive benefits of the merit light system can be emphasized as not only expanding the possible numbers of job candidates for government jobs but also expanding the attractiveness of these opportunities by having less qualifying standards and demands for meeting too many rules and expectations. This makes it possible to attract skilled and qualified personnel to government jobs.

Part 3- Appropriate/ Inappropriate Patronage:  

Appointing individuals to senior positions in the government showcases a form of patronage. Appropriate patronage is normally used as a way of providing fresh forms of leadership, more so in areas where there seems to be rigidity and unresponsiveness. Patronage was first introduced by President Andrew Jackson in the late 1820s and early 1830s, which was putting family members, friends, and political supporters into government jobs.   This meant that there were a lot of people in government jobs that simply were not qualified, skilled, or knowledgeable to handle these job responsibilities.  This was inappropriate patronage that brought into government jobs too many people that were not professional or productive. In addition, the problem with this inappropriate patronage under the spoils system was that entire groups of government workers were swept out of their positions when a new president would come into power.  It meant that government became incompetent and inefficient.  The government jobs kept changing hands, and there was no continuity.  This is why the merit system was brought in, and government workers began to be qualified and remained in their jobs despite changes in leaders.

Appropriate patronage is being advocated for even in the current government, though inappropriate patronage is still more profound. An excellent example is President Trump’s choices for his immediate advisers and some staff positions which include family members and friends who are close to him but not necessarily qualified for these positions. These individuals might be qualified in some ways for the positions, but there is no merit system in place to ensure they are qualified. A good example is the appointment of Steve Bannon to the National Security Council, which was met with a lot of criticism from stakeholders in different sectors.

Conclusion

It is apparent that civil service, merit system, and at-will employment were brought about to improve public administration though they have their fair share of benefits and shortcomings. The merit system was a positive development for the public administration because of setting qualifying standards and providing the government with more capable, skilled people in important government job positions. Patronage is still prevalent in the government setting, and inappropriate patronage continues to dominate appropriate patronage as it used to be in the 19th century.

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