Back Spoilssystemet Danish Spoils System German Spoils system Spanish سیستم تاراج Persian Spoils-järjestelmä Finnish Système des dépouilles French Zsákmányrendszer Hungarian Herfangskerfi Icelandic Spoils system Italian 猟官制 Japanese
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Military career Presidential aspirations 7th President of the United States First term Second term Post-presidency   |
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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 (cronyism), and relatives (nepotism) 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 measure of merit, independent of political activity.
The term was used particularly in politics of the United States, where the federal government operated on a spoils system until the Pendleton Act was passed in 1883 due to a civil service reform movement. Thereafter the spoils system was largely replaced by nonpartisan merit at the federal level of the United States.
The term was derived from the phrase "to the victor belong the spoils" by New York Senator William L. Marcy,[1][2] referring to the victory of Andrew Jackson in the election of 1828, with the term spoils meaning goods or benefits taken from the loser in a competition, election or military victory.[3]
Similar spoils systems are common in other nations that traditionally have been based on tribal organization or other kinship groups and localism in general.
- ^ "Andrew Jackson | The White House". The White House. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
- ^ "1314. Marcy William Learned (1786–1857). Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989". Bartleby.com. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
- ^ "spoils" dictionary definition