2025 · Q6 · Merit, spoils and open versus closed public employment (20 marks)

Source: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 2025.pdf, PDF page 2 · Answer allocation: 20 marks

Original examination question

Public Employment in Pakistan has been facing challenges since ages, as it hinges between Spoil System and Merit System. In the above context, elaborate: a. Open system of public employment. b. Close system of public employment.

Bullet outline

• Merit/spoils concern the basis of appointment.
• Open/closed concern entry and career structure.
• Explain position-based open recruitment and career-based closed systems.
• Compare expertise, mobility, continuity and insularity.
• Recommend transparent combinations suited to roles.

Full exam-ready answer

Introduction

Public employment systems can be classified along two different dimensions. Merit and spoils describe the basis on which people are appointed or advanced. Open and closed systems describe the structure of entry and career progression. Confusing these dimensions wrongly implies that open recruitment must be political or that a career service automatically guarantees merit.

Merit and spoils

A merit system selects and promotes employees through relevant competence, qualifications and fair procedures. It supports professional administration and equal opportunity. A spoils system distributes appointments primarily as rewards for political loyalty or support.

Pakistan's formal commitment to merit can be weakened by interference in appointments, postings and promotion. Patronage may operate even where examinations or formal rules exist, so attention must extend to implementation and career management rather than recruitment alone.

Open system of employment

An open or position-based system allows recruitment from outside the existing service for specified posts at different levels. Selection focuses on the requirements of the particular position. It can bring specialist expertise, encourage mobility and respond to changing skill needs.

Its risks include weak institutional continuity and opportunities for favouritism if lateral entry is not genuinely competitive. Short appointments may also discourage long-term capability development. Open recruitment therefore requires published criteria, credible assessment and transparent justification.

Closed system of employment

A closed or career-based system usually recruits at an entry level and fills higher positions largely through internal progression. Employees develop within an organised service or cadre, supported by training and career rules.

This approach can provide continuity, institutional memory and a shared professional identity. It may also protect officials from immediate partisan replacement. However, excessive closure can restrict specialist entry, reward seniority without sufficient competence and create insular professional groups.

“Closed” does not mean no new recruitment, and “open” does not mean the absence of career development. Actual national systems combine elements of both and change over time.

Implications for Pakistan

Pakistan should use career structures where continuity and general administrative experience are important, while allowing transparent specialist recruitment where particular expertise is required. Lateral entry must not become a route for bypassing merit, and internal promotion should not be treated as an automatic entitlement unrelated to capability.

Competitive assessment, documented selection, fair review and continuing professional development should apply in both arrangements. Personnel decisions need protection against partisan manipulation together with accountability for performance and misconduct.

Conclusion

The principal objective is merit, whichever employment structure is chosen. A balanced system can combine the stability of career service with the expertise and adaptability of open recruitment. Its legitimacy depends on whether access and advancement are fair, competent and directed towards public service rather than patronage.

Study note: This is an original model answer, not an official FPSC marking scheme. The outline is for revision; the prose below it provides the complete answer. Marks guide relative depth rather than a prescribed word count.