<P> 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 civil service jobs to its supporters, friends and relatives 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 on the basis of some measure of merit, independent of political activity . </P> <P> 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 a nonpartisan merit at the federal level of the United States . </P> <P> The term was derived from the phrase "to the victor belongs the spoils" by New York Senator William L. Marcy, 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 . </P>

Which congressional act was passed to end the abuses of the spoils system