Editing Civil service (section)

=== Americas ===

====Brazil====
{{Main|Brazilian Civil Service}}

Brazil started to move away from a patronage based public service starting in the second half of the 19th century, but written tests and merit only became the norm towards the end of the 1930s, as a result from reforms introduced during [[Getúlio Vargas]] first term as the nation's President.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors=((Maia, B.)) | journal=Revista do Serviço Público | title=A institucionalização do concurso público no Brasil: uma análise sócio-histórica | volume=72 | issue=3 | pages=663–684 | date=30 September 2021 | doi=10.21874/rsp.v72.i3.4639 | s2cid=247648128 | issn=2357-8017| doi-access=free }}</ref>

Civil servants in Brazil ({{langx|pt|servidores públicos}}) are those working in the [[Executive (government)|executive]], [[legislative]], and [[judicial]] branches of the [[Brazil|Federal]], [[States of Brazil|state]], [[Federal District (Brazil)|Federal District]] or [[Municipalities of Brazil|municipal]] governments, including [[congressmen]], [[Senate of Brazil|senators]], [[mayors]], [[Minister (government)|ministers]], the [[President of Brazil|president]] of the [[republic]], and workers in [[government-owned corporation]]s.

Career civil servants (not temporary workers or politicians) are hired only externally on the basis of [[Civil service entrance examination|entrance examinations]] ({{langx|pt|concurso público}}).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/concurso-publico-in-brazil|title=Concurso Público In Brazil|website=The Brazil Business|date=24 July 2014 |access-date=2021-09-12|archive-date=2021-09-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912213039/https://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/concurso-publico-in-brazil|url-status=live}}</ref> It usually consists of a written test; some posts may require physical tests (such as policemen), or oral tests (such as professors, judges, prosecutors and attorneys). The rank according to the examination score is used for filling the vacancies.

Entrance examinations are conducted by several institutions with a government mandate, such as CESPE (which belongs to the [[University of Brasília]]) and the [[:pt:Fundação Cesgranrio|Cesgranrio]] Foundation (which is part of the [[Federal University of Rio de Janeiro]]).

The labor laws and social insurance for civil servants are different from private workers; even between government branches (like different states or cities), the law and insurance differ.

The posts usually are ranked by titles, the most common are ''technician'' for high school literates and ''analyst'' for undergraduates. There's also higher post ranks like auditor, fiscal, chief of police, prosecutor, judge, attorney, etc.

The law does not allow servants to upgrade or downgrade posts internally; they need to be selected in separate external entrance examinations.

====Canada====
{{Main|Public Service of Canada}}
Historians have explored the powerful role of civil service since the 1840s.<ref>R. MacGregor Dawson,  ''The Civil Service of Canada'' (1929); Jack Granatstein, ''The Ottawa Men: The Civil Service Mandarins, 1935–1957'' (Oxford UP, 1982); J.E. Hodgetts, ''Pioneer Public Service: An Administrative History of United Canada, 1841–1867. '' (U of Toronto Press, 1955).</ref>

In Canada, the civil service at the federal level is known as the [[Public Service of Canada]], with each of the ten provincial governments as well as the three territorial governments also having their own separate civil services. The federal civil service consists of all employees of the [[The Crown|crown]]. Ministers' exempt staff and members of the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] or [[Canadian Armed Forces]] are not civil servants.<ref name="pop">{{cite web | url=http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/psm-fpfm/modernizing-modernisation/stats/ssen-ane-eng.asp | title=Population of the Federal Public Service | publisher=Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada | access-date=25 June 2016 | author=Government of Canada | date=2011-04-18 | archive-date=2016-06-22 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622062031/http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/psm-fpfm/modernizing-modernisation/stats/ssen-ane-eng.asp | url-status=live }}</ref> There are approximately 357,000 federal civil servants (2023),<ref name="pop" /> and more than 350,000 employees at the provincial and territorial levels.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://etatscanadiens-canadiangovernments.enap.ca/en/nav.aspx?sortcode=2.0.2.1|title=ENAP – Canadian governments compared > Provincial|website=etatscanadiens-canadiangovernments.enap.ca|access-date=2011-07-27|archive-date=2011-09-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110913174916/http://etatscanadiens-canadiangovernments.enap.ca/en/nav.aspx?sortcode=2.0.2.1|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== United States ====
{{Main|Government employees in the United States|United States federal civil service}}
In the United States, the federal civil service was established in 1871. The Civil Service is defined as "all appointive positions in the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of the Government of the United States, except positions in the uniformed services." ({{UnitedStatesCode|5|2101}}). In the early 19th century, government jobs were held at the pleasure of the president—a person could be fired at any time. The [[spoils system]] meant that jobs were used to support the political parties. This was changed in slow stages by the [[Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act]] of 1883 and subsequent laws. By 1909, almost two-thirds of the U.S. federal work force was appointed based on merit, that is, qualifications measured by tests. Certain senior civil service positions, including some heads of diplomatic missions and executive agencies, are filled by [[Political appointments in the United States|political appointees]]. Under the [[Hatch Act of 1939]], civil servants are not allowed to engage in political activities while performing their duties.

The U.S. civil service includes the [[competitive service]] and the [[excepted service]]. The majority of civil service appointments in the U.S. are made under the competitive service, but the [[U.S. Foreign Service|Foreign Service]], the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], and other National Security positions are made under the excepted service. (U.S. Code Title V)

As of January 2007, the federal government, excluding the Postal Service, employed about 1.8 million civilian workers. The federal government is the nation's single largest employer, although it employs only about 12% of all government employees, compared to 24% at the state level and 63% at the local level.<ref>{{cite web|date=6 March 2014|title=2012 Census of Governments: Employment Summary Report|url=http://www2.census.gov/govs/apes/2012_summary_report.pdf|access-date=8 December 2014|publisher=United States Census Bureau|archive-date=28 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328123045/http://www2.census.gov/govs/apes/2012_summary_report.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Although most federal agencies are based in the [[Washington, D.C.]] region, only about 16% (or about 284,000) of the federal government workforce is employed in this region.<ref>{{cite web|date=March 12, 2008|title=Federal Government, Excluding the Postal Service|url=http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs041.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114201419/http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs041.htm|archive-date=2009-01-14|publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics}}</ref> As of 2014, there are currently 15 federal executive branch agencies and hundreds of subagencies.<ref>{{cite web|date=2009-09-15|title=Louisiana State University Libraries – Federal Agency Index|url=http://www.lib.lsu.edu/gov/faq.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924110119/http://www.lib.lsu.edu/gov/faq.html|archive-date=2014-09-24|access-date=2014-02-18|publisher=Lib.lsu.edu}}</ref>

In the early 20th century, most cities in the US had a spoils system.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Anzia |first1=Sarah F. |last2=Trounstine |first2=Jessica |date=2024 |title=Civil Service Adoption in America: The Political Influence of City Employees |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/civil-service-adoption-in-america-the-political-influence-of-city-employees/29DBF25076D5A7E175FDECA2C85CC001 |journal=American Political Science Review |pages=1–17 |language=en |doi=10.1017/S0003055424000431 |issn=0003-0554|doi-access=free }}</ref> Over the next few decades, the spoils system was replaced with a civil service system.<ref name=":0" /> U.S. state and local government entities often have competitive civil service systems that are modeled on the national system, in varying degrees.