Shutterstock.com

Why Merit Matters

Governance isn’t a solo act and it won’t work well if we don’t trust the experts who are giving us advice. 

In the hurricane that swept through the federal bureaucracy following President Trump’s executive order creating loyalty tests for government officials, one important thread has received scant attention. The executive order seeks to undo the protections provided to federal employees for almost 140 years and to shift the balance of power to the White House. But it’s also undermined the very role of merit in the federal service.

The political winds have been fierce. But why does merit matter? Here are the top four reasons why it does. 

1. The alternative isn’t so good even for those who have the power to impose a political filter on people and their work. The days before the passage of the Pendleton Act of 1883, which created the merit system, were often miserable for top federal officials. They were in a position to appreciate the fact that “to the victor belong the spoils,” a phrase coined by New York Senator William L. Marcy after Andrew Jackson’s presidential victory. It’s always nice to be able to reward political friends with political jobs, and the president’s executive order would vastly expand the opportunity to do so.

But top members of new administrations often found this an awful experience. Lucius Q.C. Lamar, President Grover Cleveland’s Interior secretary, complained, “I eat my breakfast and dinner and supper always in the company of some two or three eager and hungry applicants for office; go to bed with their importunities in my ears.” In the early days of the merit system, President William Howard Taft nailed it: “every time I make an appointment, I create nine enemies and one ingrate.” 

The spoils system wasn’t all it was cracked up to be for those on the inside. It cost President James Garfield his life, when he was murdered by a supporter who had a vastly exaggerated view of his own contribution to Garfield’s election and expected a plum diplomatic post in Europe. 

2. There’s a critical role for expertise in government. One of the biggest problems with the bad old pre-merit-system days was that every new administration brought about a big churn in government workers. That made it much harder to get governments’ work done because so many positions were filled by short-timers who didn’t have the chance to master the job. At a time when the country was rapidly industrializing and big corporate trusts were dominating American society, the federal government was ill equipped to handle some of the biggest challenges facing the nation. 

If we fast-forward to 2021, there are mega-puzzles wherever we look. Do the vaccines in testing actually work? Are they safe? What issues are foremost in the minds of the governments we have to deal with around the world? Who is making sure that the nation’s nuclear weapons work and that they’re safely stored (and that we can clean up the radioactive debris left behind from the early days of manufacturing them)? How can we prevent planes from colliding on runways and in the air? How can we make sure fraud, waste, and abuse don’t creep into defense contracts? How do we make sure that people eligible for Social Security payments get them accurately and on time every month—and that we don’t send checks to cemeteries? The list goes on, in every nook and cranny of the federal government.

The reason we have a bureaucracy is that, as a society, we have decided that government ought to do a lot of important things. These things are often very difficult and complex. It’s always better to have experts who know what they’re doing when we try to do difficult and complex things. Because the federal government works with so many non-federal partners, it’s always better to make sure that the federal experts can match the non-federal ones on the other side of the table. It’s always hard, however, to find, hire, and keep the best experts. And it’s sure to become more difficult if their positions are tenuous and can evaporate with changes in the political winds.  

3. Dissenting views are handy. Experts who lean into those prevailing winds often raise inconvenient truths, but those truths are always truly invaluable. There’s an old Washington joke that there are two ways to embarrass a new political appointee. One is to do nothing that the appointee orders. The other is to do everything the appointee wants. The quickest road to disaster can be a speedy drive down a road littered with landmines that the driver doesn’t know exist.

After the Obamacare website crashed on the first day, a new team of experts made it serviceable in just a few months, which meant that it didn’t need to collapse to begin with. Listening to the experts who were raising warning flags could have prevented the administration’s crash-on-launch disaster, and it’s worth considering how different the Obamacare narrative might have been with a smooth takeoff.

The operation to take out Osama bin Laden was full of mega-risks, both for the troops involved and for our rocky relationship with Pakistan. In planning the operation, military commanders were careful not only to figure out how it might work—but also to put experts to work to suggest how it might fail. No commander in chief would ever want to launch a major operation without knowing what the risks are.

But to know what works—and what might not—requires deep expertise and, often, a great deal of professional courage. It’s not easy for anyone to risk putting their career on the line to raise an inconvenient truth. But if a policy professional could lose a job for raising troublesome issues, those issues are far less likely to be raised. The very pursuit of political loyalty could cost political officials their jobs in the next election. 

4. Trust matters. If the Food and Drug Administration says it’s safe to take the COVID-19 vaccine, will Americans trust their word? If NOAA’s Hurricane Center urges families to leave their homes and all their possessions behind because a hurricane threatens, will they believe the forecasters’ professional judgment? 

In many ways, the issue of trust is the single most important argument for the merit system. We won’t be eager to pay taxes if we don’t think the government will treat us fairly. We won’t play our part in government programs if we think that the program is being politically steered. And we won’t trust government if we come to believe that every part of it has a political slant. Governance isn’t a solo act and it won’t work well if we don’t trust the experts who are giving us advice. 

Trust in government is already at historic lows. If citizens believe that government’s work is always politically colored, trust can only shrink. And we’ll all be worse off. 

Now, to be sure, the merit system has a host of problems. No one really likes the system we have. In particular, there is the nagging argument that the government can’t rid itself of poor performers. The system is in desperate need of repair, and there’s no time to wait, as a recent National Academy of Public Administration report argued.

However, tossing the merit system aside because of its problems is sure to produce a far worse situation. We need to fix it. But trashing it could badly erode government’s ability to perform and, ultimately, the American democratic system. Even those arguing for the return to the spoils system could find themselves quickly regretting their choice.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.