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Preferred term

spoils system  

Definition

  • Spoils system refers to the practice of appointing persons to government office as a reward for their political services rather than their suitability for the post. In the late nineteenth century, the use of public office to reinforce party control would be widely condemned as a corrupt means of allowing unprincipled hacks to dominate politics, thus perverting the popular will, undermining good government, and keeping from office those best fitted to serve the public. [Source: Encyclopedia of U.S. Political History; Spoils System]

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/spoils_system

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