Survey Shows Strong Support for Merit-Based Civil Service

A whopping 95 percent of Americans believe federal employees should be hired and promoted based on their individual merit and skill rather than their political beliefs, according to a new survey released by the Partnership for Public Service.

The overwhelming response is a strong rebuttal to those who want to remove career federal employees and make room for hiring only a president’s political allies.

While the survey also shows a concerning drop in overall public trust of the federal government, the desire for the civil service to remain independent is powerful and bipartisan. Regardless of political affiliation, 91 percent of Americans agree that “having competent civil servants is important for a strong American democracy” and 87 percent say a nonpartisan civil service is important to democracy. Read more