<Li> Passed the House on January 4, 1883 (155--46) </Li> <Li> Signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur on January 16, 1883 </Li> <P> The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (ch. 27, 22 Stat. 403) is a United States federal law, enacted in 1883, which established that positions within the federal government should be awarded on the basis of merit instead of political affiliation . The act provided selection of government employees by competitive exams, rather than ties to politicians or political affiliation . It also made it illegal to fire or demote government officials for political reasons and prohibited soliciting campaign donations on Federal government property . To enforce the merit system and the judicial system, the law also created the United States Civil Service Commission . This board would be in charge of determining the rules and regulations of the act . The Act also allowed for the president, by executive order to decide which positions could be subject to the act and which would not . A crucial result was the shift of the parties to reliance on funding from business, since they could no longer depend on patronage hopefuls . </P> <P> In 1877, there was growing interest in the United States concerning the effects of the spoils system on the American political system . New York City established the Civil Service Reform Association to help address the issues, which would lead to several other organizations like it appearing in other cities . The presence of these organizations was one of the first steps in trying to up end the spoils system in America . </P>

The civil service act in 1883 was enacted to counter