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Public employees in political firms: Part B. Civil service and militancy

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  • Joseph Reid
  • Michael Kurth

Abstract

We continue our explanation of the evolution of public employees' organization. Here we explain that evolution from patronage to civil service, now characterized by militancy, that occurred over the past century. Commonly, each transformation has been related only to some failing of its preceding form: patronage ended because of its corruption, civil service began because of its promise to stop corruption, and militancy spread because of the inadequacies of civil service. In contrast to these different explanations of each transformation of government employment, we offer the same explanation for each change (and for the preceding rise of patronage): the new organizational form more efficiently maximized the mixture of votes, power, and income that politicians seek. Thus, when homogenization of the electorate and cheap communications made political goods efficiently produced before consumption (such as parks and roads) more valuable, and let media rather than spoilsmen deliver communiques from politicians, spoilsmen evolved to civil servants. When militant labor actions became useful to protect local mandates from national mandates, politicians came to tolerate militant employees. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 1989

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph Reid & Michael Kurth, 1989. "Public employees in political firms: Part B. Civil service and militancy," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 41-54, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:60:y:1989:i:1:p:41-54
    DOI: 10.1007/BF00124311
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Reid, Joseph D., 1978. "Economic Burden: Spark to the American Revolution?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 81-100, March.
    2. Freeman, Richard B, 1986. "Unionism Comes to the Public Sector," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 41-86, March.
    3. Orley Ashenfelter & John H. Pencavel, 1969. "American Trade Union Growth: 1900–1960," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 83(3), pages 434-448.
    4. Gordon Tullock, 1974. "Dynamic hypothesis on bureaucracy," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 127-131, September.
    5. Roger Faith, 1979. "Local fiscal crises and intergovernmental grants: A suggested hypothesis," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 317-331, September.
    6. Joseph Reid & Michael Kurth, 1988. "Public employees in political firms: Part A. The patronage era," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 253-262, December.
    7. Cassing, James & McKeown, Timothy J. & Ochs, Jack, 1986. "The Political Economy of the Tariff Cycle," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 80(3), pages 843-862, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Quaresima, Federico, 2019. "Patronage Appointments between Politics and Public Governance: a Review," MPRA Paper 94650, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Christian Schuster, 2016. "When the Victor Cannot Claim the Spoils: Institutional Incentives for Professionalizing Patronage States," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 93877, Inter-American Development Bank.
    3. Gonzalo Fernández-de-Córdoba & Javier Pérez & José Torres, 2012. "Public and private sector wages interactions in a general equilibrium model," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 309-326, January.
    4. Michael M Ting & James M Snyder Jr & Shigeo Hirano & Olle Folke, 2013. "Elections and reform: The adoption of civil service systems in the U.S. states," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 25(3), pages 363-387, July.
    5. Joseph Reid & Michael Kurth, 1988. "Public employees in political firms: Part A. The patronage era," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 253-262, December.

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