The Deep State is our defense against political hacks running the US

Woodrow Wilson was a political scientist – legit. One of the very first.

He is known for his essay on the crucial need for a merit system in public administration. He was not at all happy with the political angle of the fundamental functions of government, which used a litmus test of political loyalty rather than individual merit.

The patronage system in the US was actually based on one of the fundamental elements of democracy: voting. In the sparkling new Republic, one of the most impressive features of the system was the almost instantaneous expansion of the franchise. Initially, in many places, only property owners could vote in elections, but this soon gave way to the expansion of voting rights to all white, male citizens.

Although it would take much longer to extend voting rights to women and African Americans, the stage was set for a real battle for voters, deposing the old system of oligarchy led by a few.

Andrew Jackson was the first to realize the power of the masses. He recruited voters on a large scale and led the first truly ‘national’ campaigns, which others quickly followed. Numbers were important. Majorities were important. And as the nation grew, so did all those new citizen immigrants.

Boston is the classic example of how this took a bad turn: after two centuries of domination by Protestant blue-nosers on Beacon Hill, Boston’s newly immigrated Irish population (mostly Catholic, almost all poor) used their numbers to revolt and to seize power. government machinery.

This wasn’t the problem – that’s democracy, and that’s how it works. The central issue was turnout: how can we get the new citizens to actually show up and vote. Those old police knew exactly how: they promised jobs.

What emerged from this experience was a political machine that lasted for decades. ‘Ward heelers’ and ‘block captains’ for the local power brokers were responsible for registration and turnout at a very local level, in an organization that reached all the way to the mayor’s office, which ensured that these ‘turnout specialists’ were hired by the city as garbage collectors, as sewer workers, as police officers.

Party loyalty – even loyalty to an individual politician – was all that mattered. The system was fundamentally corrupt, inefficient and lacking any form of professionalism (no academy or valid training needed). And it was open to bribery, gross nepotism and bribery.

Machines like these became the model for other cities. Run by William Magear “Boss” Tweed, “Tammany Hall” first dominated New York City and eventually the entire state of New York – becoming a byword for evil self-indulgence at the expense of the populace.

The Progressives, a largely Republican movement formed in response to the party machines, changed that. The reforms of the early 1920s^e The century created a merit-based system, required legitimate qualifications for government jobs, and drained the toxins of party rule.

The party did not matter, passing the civil service exam did. Qualifications were recorded in formal job descriptions. The bureaucracy was still large, cumbersome and often wasteful, but the level of competence increased with each generation.

Now, with the investigations into ‘loyalty’ and the rumors of job cuts at agencies that don’t fit the ideology of the moment, this new team wants to reverse it all.

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What the new administration whines about when they talk about the “threat” of the “deep state” is that this merit-based system of professionals cannot be trusted to act blindly in the interests of a short-lived party hack that just happens to Occupy the White House.

They’re right.

Any attempt to change this could return us to an era of endless venality, from the highest levels down to the small cubicles of the secretariat.

The loyalty of federal workers is tied to the task at hand, to the nation, and to the laws passed by representatives of the people. Not for a four-year tenant of the Oval Office.

R. Bruce Anderson is the Dr. Sarah D. and L. Kirk McKay, Jr. Endowed Chair in American History, Government, and Civics and Miller Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Florida Southern College. He is also a columnist for The Ledger and a political consultant and on-air commentator for WLKF Radio in Lakeland.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: The Origins and Benefits of the ‘Deep State’ | R. Bruce Anderson