What did the Pendleton Act establish after the Garfield assassination?

What did the Pendleton Act establish after the Garfield assassination?

• A. Created the spoils system for appointing officials.
• B. Implemented civil service unionization.
• C. Abolished the federal civil service.
• D. Following the assassination of President Garfield by a disgruntled job seeker, this established a merit-based system of selecting government officials and supervising their work.

Answer: (D)

The central idea is that the Pendleton Act created a merit-based way to hire and supervise federal government workers, replacing the old patronage system. After President Garfield was assassinated by a job seeker, reformers pushed for hiring to be based on ability rather than political connections. The act established competitive exams for many federal positions and set up a Civil Service Commission to oversee appointments and merit protections, professionalizing the federal workforce and making it more accountable. This shift explains why the act is described as establishing a merit-based system for selecting officials and supervising their work. The other options don’t fit because the act did not create the spoils system, did not set up unionization as its primary aim, and did not abolish the federal civil service.

The central idea is that the Pendleton Act created a merit-based way to hire and supervise federal government workers, replacing the old patronage system. After President Garfield was assassinated by a job seeker, reformers pushed for hiring to be based on ability rather than political connections. The act established competitive exams for many federal positions and set up a Civil Service Commission to oversee appointments and merit protections, professionalizing the federal workforce and making it more accountable. This shift explains why the act is described as establishing a merit-based system for selecting officials and supervising their work. The other options don’t fit because the act did not create the spoils system, did not set up unionization as its primary aim, and did not abolish the federal civil service.