Merit System and Municipal Civil Service

Frances Gottfried offers a thorough-going critique of municipal civil service systems and the principles of meritocracy that underlie them, focusing especially on the social inequities and entrenchment of power that continue to bedevil the public sector. Beginning with an examination of the principles and history of the merit system, the author challenges the assumption that a real meritocracy does in fact exist. She looks at current practices and procedures in civil service, with particular attention to the decision-making process. She explores the role of the rigid credentialling system in maintaining a powerful elite within civil service and in creating barriers to career opportunities for minorities and women. In the next three chapters, Gottfried considers attempts that have been made to reform the merit system through affirmative action, litigation aimed at eliminating inequities, and public employment programs from the New Deal years through the early 1970s. Concluding that the rigidly structured municipal civil service system is neither efficient nor equitable, she contends that it effectively widens the gulf between municipal employees and the communities it is their responsibility to serve.

?. . . the author presents a clear and well-documented analysis of municipal civil service problems and attempted solutions. The Merit System and Municipal Civil Service is an excellent starting point for understanding the complexities of the municipal civil service system.?-The Urban Lawyer, ?An analysis is made of the assertion that the rigid structure of municipal civil service systems and the principle of the meritocracy underlying that system have contributed to and perpetuated a system of social inequity in the public service, and that such values as representation and responsive service delivery are secondary to the protection of professional power and control. Legislative, judicial, and administrative efforts to make municipal civil service systems more equitable are investigated. Existing personnel systems and controls exercised by unions and professional groups are assessed with respect to their efforts to constrain change. Efforts to effect change in municipal civil service systems are important because, with the movement of the United States from an industrial to a service society, more services have been demanded of government, and there has been an unabating growth of the state and local government work forces. Recent cutbacks in city personnel and services notwithstanding, this trend appears to be good for the long term.?-Sage Urban Studies Abstracts, ." . . the author presents a clear and well-documented analysis of municipal civil service problems and attempted solutions. The Merit System and Municipal Civil Service is an excellent starting point for understanding the complexities of the municipal civil service system."-The Urban Lawyer, "An analysis is made of the assertion that the rigid structure of municipal civil service systems and the principle of the meritocracy underlying that system have contributed to and perpetuated a system of social inequity in the public service, and that such values as representation and responsive service delivery are secondary to the protection of professional power and control. Legislative, judicial, and administrative efforts to make municipal civil service systems more equitable are investigated. Existing personnel systems and controls exercised by unions and professional groups are assessed with respect to their efforts to constrain change. Efforts to effect change in municipal civil service systems are important because, with the movement of the United States from an industrial to a service society, more services have been demanded of government, and there has been an unabating growth of the state and local government work forces. Recent cutbacks in city personnel and services notwithstanding, this trend appears to be good for the long term."-Sage Urban Studies Abstracts

FRANCES GOTTFRIED is Associate Dean in the School of Continuing Education at New York University.