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In politics and government, a spoils system (also known as a patronage system) is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends (), and relatives as a reward for working toward victory, and as an incentive to keep working for the party—as opposed to a merit system, where offices are awarded or promoted on the basis of some ...
Early aggressive demands for civil service reform, particularly stemming from Democratic arguments, were associated with white supremacy and opposition towards economic and social gains made by blacks through the spoils system which pro-civil rights Republican "Stalwarts" shrewdly utilized during the Reconstruction and Gilded Age eras. [3]
The success of the spoils system helped ensure the dominance of both the Democratic Party in the period before the American Civil War and the Republican Party in the period after the Civil War. Patronage became a key issue in elections, as many partisans in both major parties were more concerned about control over political appointments than ...
As with the preceding Second Party System era, the Third was characterized by intense voter interest, routinely high voter turnout, unflinching party loyalty, dependence on nominating conventions, hierarchical party organizations, and the systematic use of government jobs as patronage for party workers, known as the spoils system.
The spoils system propagated like a pernicious weed. Leaders of the Whig Party denounced Democratic Party patronage, but practiced it themselves when they came to power in the 1840s, as did the ...
In this 1889 Udo Keppler cartoon from Puck, all of New York City politics revolves around boss Richard Croker.. In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership control over member activity.
The "spoils" system of federal hiring was reformed only after President James A. Garfield, depicted at his 1881 inauguration, was assassinated by a former supporter who'd been denied a position.
He instituted the spoils system for federal government positions, using his patronage powers to build a powerful and united Democratic Party. In response to the nullification crisis , Jackson threatened to send federal soldiers into South Carolina, but the crisis was defused by the passage of the Tariff of 1833 .