TY - GEN N2 - Patronage systems in the public service are universally reviled as undemocratic and corrupt. Yet patronage was the prevailing method of staffing government for centuries, and in some countries it still is. In Jobs for the Boys, Merilee Grindle considers why patronage has been so ubiquitous in history and explores the political processes through which it is replaced by merit-based civil service systems. Such reforms are consistently resisted, she finds, because patronage systems, though capricious, offer political executives flexibility to achieve a wide variety of objectives. Grindle looks at the histories of public sector reform in six developed countries and compares them with contemporary struggles for reform in four Latin American countries. A historical, case-based approach allows her to take into account contextual differences between countries as well as to identify cycles that govern reform across the board. As a rule, she finds, transition to merit-based systems involves years and sometimes decades of conflict and compromise with supporters of patronage, as new systems of public service are politically constructed. Becoming aware of the limitations of public sector reform, Grindle hopes, will temper expectations for institutional change now being undertaken. DO - 10.4159/harvard.9780674065185 DO - doi AB - Patronage systems in the public service are universally reviled as undemocratic and corrupt. Yet patronage was the prevailing method of staffing government for centuries, and in some countries it still is. In Jobs for the Boys, Merilee Grindle considers why patronage has been so ubiquitous in history and explores the political processes through which it is replaced by merit-based civil service systems. Such reforms are consistently resisted, she finds, because patronage systems, though capricious, offer political executives flexibility to achieve a wide variety of objectives. Grindle looks at the histories of public sector reform in six developed countries and compares them with contemporary struggles for reform in four Latin American countries. A historical, case-based approach allows her to take into account contextual differences between countries as well as to identify cycles that govern reform across the board. As a rule, she finds, transition to merit-based systems involves years and sometimes decades of conflict and compromise with supporters of patronage, as new systems of public service are politically constructed. Becoming aware of the limitations of public sector reform, Grindle hopes, will temper expectations for institutional change now being undertaken. T1 - Jobs for the Boys :Patronage and the State in Comparative Perspective / AU - Grindle, Merilee S., JF - E-BOOK GESAMTPAKET / COMPLETE PACKAGE 2012 JF - E-BOOK PACKAGE HISTORY; POLITICAL SCIENCE, SOCIOLOGY 2012 JF - E-BOOK PAKET GESCHICHTE, POLITIKWISS., SOZIOLOGIE 2012 JF - HUP eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013 (Canada) JF - Harvard University Press eBook Package Backlist 2000-2013 EP - ZDB-23-DGG EP - ZDB-23-DPS CN - JF1651 LA - eng LA - In English. ID - 1479100 KW - Civil service reform KW - Civil service KW - Patronage, Political KW - Public officers KW - POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Affairs & Administration. SN - 9780674065185 TI - Jobs for the Boys :Patronage and the State in Comparative Perspective / LK - https://univsouthin.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780674065185 UR - https://univsouthin.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780674065185 ER -