The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act is a United States federal law passed by the 47th United States Congress and signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur on January 16, 1883. The act mandates that most positions within the federal government should be awarded on the basis of merit instead of political patronage. By the late 1820s, American politics operated on the spoils system, a political patronage practice in which officeholders awarded their allies with government jobs in return for financial and political support. Proponents of the spoils system were successful at blocking meaningful civil service reform until the assassination of President James A. Garfield in 1881. The 47th Congress passed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act during its lame duck session and President Chester A. Arthur, himself a former spoilsman, signed the bill into law. The Pendleton Civil Service Act provided for the selection of some government employees by competitive exams, rather than ties to politicians or political affiliation. It also made it illegal to fire or demote these government officials for political reasons and created the United States Civil Service Commission to enforce the merit system. The act initially
La Ley de Reforma del Servicio Civil de Pendleton es una ley federal de los Estados Unidos aprobada por el 47o Congreso de los Estados Unidos y firmada en ley por el presidente Chester A. Arthur el 16 de enero de 1883. La ley ordena que la mayoría de los puestos dentro del gobierno federal se otorguen sobre la base del mérito en lugar de el patrocinio político. A finales de la década de 1820, la política estadounidense operó sobre el sistema de spoilers, una práctica de patrocinio político en la que los poseedores de oficinas otorgaban a sus aliados empleos gubernamentales a cambio de apoyo financiero y político. Los partidarios del sistema de spoilers tuvieron éxito en bloquear una reforma significativa del servicio público hasta el asesinato del presidente James A. Garfield en 1881. El 47o Congreso aprobó la Ley de Reforma del Servicio Civil de Pendleton durante su sesión de pato lame y el presidente Chester A. Arthur, un antiguo spoilero, firmó la ley en el sistema.