Criminal justice officials hire personnel and protect their rights under the civil service rules. They both can be released from some civil rights laws depending on their location. However, before Woodrow Wilson presented this approach, all the decisions considering new employees were based on patronage appointments (Kania & Davis, 2011). Over time, numerous typologies have been created to define certain stages in the United States history of public personnel.
Frederick C. Moscher proposed one of the typologies, in which he defined five eras in the American history of personnel (Kania & Davis, 2011). The first era was influenced by Thomas Jefferson, who believed that the employees for the states should be selected by their background and equally represented in the federal government. The second era was one of Andrew Jackson, who put political loyalty, but not one’s social status in the first place (Kania & Davis, 2011). Therefore, the patronage system under his rule was beneficial to common people.
The third and fourth eras were the combination of government by the good and government by the efficient. With the passage of the Pendleton Act in 1883, the practice of patronage became less common as people received equal opportunities for civil service (Kania & Davis, 2011). At that time, civil service rules, together with the three-stage civil test, were the principal instruments for selecting employees. However, such personnel as judges and prosecutors were elected for the service. The development of civil service rules ended with the era of government by administrators and the creation of a set of recommendations.
The next period was called credentialism due to the necessity to have credentials and other documents to apply for a job. In 1929, the Wickersham Commission was founded, and its primary task was to make recommendations for criminal justice public policy. U.S Federal Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of justice offered numerous personnel reforms (Kania & Davis, 2011). The system had some serious flaws, such as the lack of opportunities for job growth. Under the rule of Richard Nixon, policy control was enhanced to control other areas.
Now it is a period of equal opportunities, which started with the Equal Employment Opportunity Act in 1973. New programs’ major issue is in defining the degree of their involvement in the achievement of affirmative action. They are to promote equal participation of all people and eliminate discrimination through numerous acts (Kania & Davis, 2011). The selection of workers is based on the principles of scientific management of F. W. Taylor (Kania & Davis, 2011). They include the development and selection of work elements and cooperation for better performance.
Over history, several civil rights acts have been developed to ensure equal opportunities for all citizens. The courts had a principal role in this process, promoting specific categories of people by the standards of qualification. Since 1980, the principle of “equal pay for work of equal value” has been used (Kania & Davis, 2011, p.177). Now one of the most significant concerns of the government is personnel turnover, which leads to additional expenses.
As the government’s acts are complemented by the states’ ones and specific companies’ regulations, it is, therefore, necessary to ensure they correspond to the principal laws and acts. Such characteristics as employee classification, recruitment procedures, compensation, working conditions are to be matched. The government is also trying to take some measures on the elimination of workplace harassment, evaluation for new workers, and other conditions. Thus, it takes all the responsibility for staffing and personnel issues.
References
Kania, R. R. E. & Davis R. P. (2011). Managing criminal justice organizations: An introduction to theory and practice. Routledge.