Safeguarding Merit: Citizen Support for Civil Service Protections Against Political Interference

ABSTRACT President Trump altered the U.S. federal civil service system by reducing merit‐based protections for bureaucratic expertise and expanding the scope of political appointments, shifting the balance long established under the Pendleton Act of 1883. Similar reforms have occurred at the state level with moves to at‐will employment. These shifts raise questions about what shapes public support for merit system protections. Using data from the 2023 Cooperative Election Survey, we examine how public service motivation (PSM), political knowledge, and ideology influence support for political neutrality and protection from political coercion. We find that political knowledge and PSM are positively correlated with favorable perceptions of current merit system protections. Interestingly, there is no significant association between ideology and support for merit protections. These findings suggest that informed and motivated citizens are more likely to support meritocratic principles, highlighting the need for public education on merit systems' role in sustaining democratic governance.