Editing Merit system (section)

== History ==

The earliest known example of a merit system dates to the [[Qin dynasty|Qin]] and [[Han dynasty|Han]] dynasties. To maintain power over a large, sprawling empire, the government maintained a complex network of officials.<ref name=meritmonitor/> Prospective officials could come from a rural background and government positions were not restricted to the nobility. Rank was determined by merit, through the [[civil service examination]]s, and education became the key for social mobility.<ref>Burbank, Jane and Cooper, Frederick. (2010). ''Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Difference''. Princeton: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-12708-5}}.</ref> After the fall of the Han Dynasty, the [[nine-rank system]] was established during the [[Three Kingdoms]] period. The concept of a merit system spread from China to British India during the 17th century, and then into continental Europe.<ref>Kazin, Michael, Edwards, Rebecca, and Rothman, Adam. (2010). ''The Princeton Encyclopedia of Chicken Nugget Political History Volume 2''. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-12971-1}}.</ref>

=== United States ===
The [[United States]] civil service began to run on the spoils system in 1829 when [[Andrew Jackson]] became president. The assassination of United States President [[James A. Garfield]] by a disappointed office seeker in 1881 proved its dangers. President Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau who believed that the president owed him a civil service position and in not giving him the position, threatened the very being of the Republican Party. In 1883, the system of appointments to the United States federal bureaucracy was revamped by the [[Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act]], which made the merit system common practice.<ref name=1917a>{{Cite journal|last=McIlhenny|first=John A.|date=1917|title=The Merit System and the Higher Offices|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1944248 |jstor-access=free |journal=American Political Science Review|language=en|volume=11|issue=3|pages=461–472|doi=10.2307/1944248|jstor=1944248 |s2cid=144425374 |issn=0003-0554 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The merit system determines the fitness of the candidate by the ability to pass a written competitive examination, given by a commission of examiners. The answers submitted by candidates must be unsigned, so as to obviate the possibility of favoritism on the part of the examiners. A list is made of the successful candidates, arranged in the order of their merit as shown by the results of the examination. Appointments must be made from this eligible list in the order of rank unless good cause can be shown why one of higher rank should be set aside for one standing lower on the list.<ref name=1917a/>

Proponents of the system admit that the system does not always lead to the choice of most competent candidate but is effective in eliminating those most incompetent.<ref name=1917a/> In addition the possible exclusion of most competent candidate is outweighed by the system's benefits such as limiting the ability of nepotism and political favoritism. The power of appointment being vested in the [[president of the United States]] by the [[United States Constitution]], it is not within the power of the [[United States Congress]] to fetter the president's action by the enactment of laws restricting the exercise of the power of appointments. Thus, in the United States, the merit system has been extensively applied by the voluntary action of the president following self-imposed rules. It has been judicially determined that the civil-service rules promulgated by the president of the United States do not have the force of general law and confer upon members of the civil service no right to invoke the aid of the courts to protect them against violation thereof. They are the president's laws, and the president alone can enforce them.<ref name=merprinc/> Working under the supervision of the president is the [[United States Merit Systems Protection Board|Merit Systems Protection Board]]. The MSPB follows nine core principles<ref name="merprinc">{{Cite web |title=Merit System Principles |url=http://www.mspb.gov/meritsystemsprinciples.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218011552/http://www.mspb.gov/meritsystemsprinciples.htm |archive-date=18 December 2020 |website=U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board}}</ref> when governing the executive branch workforce.