Jackson thought the government bureaucracy was corrupt and we need to be over turned. The term spoils system comes from a quote "to the victor goes the spoils." The spoils system you basically had to know someone to become part of the government and you didn't exactly get checked based on your ability to do the job. Which is the opposite of the merit system, the merit system is a system used to give all people a fighting chance at jobs. They base it on weather or not you are capable of doing the job and who could do it better, the don't base it on if they know you. When the spoils system was replaced with the merit system many occupancies had to use the merit system when hiring employees. The spoils system had to be replaced with the merit system in order for everyone to have an equal chance at a job of their desire. I think today the spoils system is still used when it comes to hiring for some jobs, I know that you are required to have a certain amount of African Americans, Hispanics and Asians working for your company which is called affirmative action. But if it was between a white man and a black man and the white man had better job credentials but the occupancy needed another black man to meet the state regulations they would hire the black man. So it's not all about who has a better ability at doing the jobs.