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Chapter 14
The Bureaucracy
Milestone on the Road to the Permanent Campaign
The Election of 1828: Patronage Becomes a Major Part
of American National Politics
ith the election of Andrew Jackson in 1828, patronage
became a staple of American national politics. Jackson,
W
a war hero who had campaigned as an ally of the “common
not account for a million dollars’ worth of customs fees.
“The government,” said one of Jackson’s critics,“formerly
served by the elite of the nation, is now served, to a very
considerable extent, by its refuse.”
Although patronage had been used
to elevate political allies before, after the
election of 1828 the practice became
much more widespread. It was not until
the Pendleton Act of 1883 that the
federal government began systematic
efforts to curtail patronage. Even today
patronage plays an important role in U.S.
presidential politics. The promise of an
administration job may encourage
activists to work harder to elect their
preferred candidate, and once in office, a
staff of loyalists can make it easier for
presidents to pursue their policy agendas.
Sorting through all the patronage-seekers
can be a daunting process, however—by
the time George W. Bush was inaugurated, his transition team had received
over 44,000 resumes from job applicants!
man,” replaced 2000 government workers with his own supporters, creating
what came to be known as the spoils
system. Jackson saw patronage as critical
for building his campaign organization,
but he also elevated patronage to the
level of political principle. In his first
message to Congress, Jackson declared,
“The duties of all public officers are, or
at least admit of being made, so plain
and simple that men of intelligence may
readily qualify themselves for their performance; and I can not but believe that
more is lost by the long continuance in
office than is generally to be gained by
their experience.” In other words, in
Jackson’s view, one person was as good
as the next. Almost anyone could do
government work, and therefore everyone should take a turn. Government
offices should rotate, giving new people
President Andrew Jackson
a chance to learn the skills and duties of
• Corruption aside, do you believe that
public service.
expertise is the most important criterion for
By replacing learned experts with ordinary citizens,
selection of a bureaucratic worker? Or did Jackson have a point
Jackson felt he was making government more democratic.
when he argued that ordinary people should be represented in
The spoils system ensured that the government administrafederal agencies?
tors were in tune with the views of the people. It also got rid
• What sorts of jobs are best suited for experts, and what kinds
of malcontents in the bureaucracy who might frustrate the
for nonexperts?
new government. But it often meant the appointment of
unsavory political cronies to positions such as New York
SOURCES: Robert V. Remini, The Life of Andrew Jackson (New York:
customs collector, a job with a wealth of opportunities for
Harper and Row, 1988), p. 185; and John Wildermuth,“Droves of Job
personal enrichment. Jackson’s appointee to that post
Applicants Come Knocking on Bush’s Door,” San Francisco Chronicle,
absconded to England when it became clear that he could
January 16, 2001, p. A3.
which barred federal employees from political campaigning and solicitation. The
mountains of patronage were all but worn away.
Political Appointees Today
In the arid expanses of Arizona and New Mexico stand mesas—often called islands
in the desert—that tower over surrounding flatland. All that remain of ancient
plateaus, long eroded by wind and water, mesas are ecologically distinct from the
surrounding desert.
Just as one finds geological mesas in the deserts of the West, one can locate
patronage mesas that have survived decades of civil service reform. One of the most
heavily populated patronage mesas is also the most prestigious, for it includes thousands of policy makers at the top levels of the federal government. It consists of most
members of the White House staff, the heads of most departments and agencies, and