[THE VIEW] Revival of Yeopgwanje... Trump's 'Civil Servant Reform'

U.S. Civil Service Returns to the Past
10% of 2 Million Federal Employees at Risk
An Era Where Loyalty Is Valued Over Competence

Recently, U.S. President Trump ordered the dismissal of hundreds of thousands of federal employees. Furthermore, he is pushing a plan to change the contract status of about 50,000 workers to allow arbitrary dismissal. This means that federal employees can be fired at any time based on their political orientation or loyalty to Trump.

Currently, there are 2 million federal employees in the United States, and this measure puts more than 10% at risk of being dismissed or placed in unstable employment. The current U.S. civil service personnel system is based on meritocracy, and experts strongly oppose Trump's new personnel policy, calling it a historic regression.

For about 100 years after the United States gained independence from Britain, federal employees were hired under the "spoil system," which is a political patronage system where the president grants public office to his supporters.

In fact, the spoil system is still found in several democratic countries and exists in South Korea as well. For example, the Prime Minister can be appointed and dismissed by the president. However, in South Korea, this spoil system is limited to high-ranking public offices, differing from the extensive spoil system in early America.

In the past, whenever the administration changed in the U.S., a large number of public officials from high to low ranks were replaced. During President Lincoln's era, about 90% of public officials were dismissed, and their positions were filled by people who supported Lincoln's election or party.

As expected, the spoil system based on political loyalty rather than ability or performance greatly diminished the professionalism of federal employees. Especially, with the administration changing every four years and mass replacement of officials, the know-how and experiential knowledge that could be accumulated by holding a position for a long time were not developed.

As a result, federal employees became synonymous with incompetence, and moreover, the spoil system fostered widespread corruption. Political parties demanded that their supporters appointed as public officials pay 2-7% of their salaries to the party as a price.

James A. Garfield, the 20th President of the United States, was shot by his supporter Charles Guiteau at the Baltimore and Potomac Station in Washington D.C. on July 2, 1881, less than four months into his presidency, and died as a result. Photo by Bettmann Archives/Getty Images

Eventually, in 1881, President James Garfield of the United States was assassinated. The assassin was a supporter who had helped Garfield's campaign but was denied a public office and held a grudge. This incident led the U.S. to abolish the spoil system and enact laws to transition the civil service appointment system to merit-based or performance-based.

Subsequently, additional legal measures were established through the Civil Service Reform Act to prevent dismissal of public officials for political reasons. Currently, South Korea does not have such strong legal measures, but its civil service system is based on performance principles.

Trump and his supporters argue that a flexible dismissal policy can remove low-performing public officials. In fact, a survey targeting federal employees showed that about 40% responded that low-performing officials are not dismissed and their performance does not improve.

However, the majority of administrative and sociological scholars predict that the revival of the spoil system will be politically abused. They are concerned that it could be used as a tool to immediately dismiss officials who oppose or are uncooperative with Trump's policies.

Additionally, legal scholars warn that the spoil system may violate the spirit of the Constitution. U.S. public officials take an oath to the Constitution and receive salaries and benefits from taxpayers, so their duty goes beyond simply executing the president's orders to serving the public interest and upholding the Constitution.

According to public opinion and outlook surveys, most Americans believe that public officials serve the people, and about 90% of Americans want a meritocratic civil service system with political neutrality. Trump's executive order to massively dismiss federal employees has already sparked significant backlash.

Trump has recently taken such anachronistic measures in various fields. However, institutional mechanisms to limit these actions are still insufficient.

Seo Boyoung, Professor at Indiana State University, USA