All civil service systems are not equal, but the national government arrangements serves as an illustrative model for most merit personnel systems. Many state arrangements, among the nearly forty states that have merit systems, closely resemble the national government format, with some variations. About 90 percent of all national executive-branch employees are currently covered by some merit system. Most are under the system administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which replaced the Civil Service Commission in 1979.

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) key administrative unit in the national government operating under presidential direction. They are responsible for managing the national government personnel system, consistent with presidential personnel policy. The proportion of national executive employees working within competitive merit systems has risen steadily, from about 10 percent in 1884 to over 90 percent for the first time during the 1970s.

Partly in response to prodding from the national government, state governments have gradually extended—or established—merit systems in their executive branches. For example, Congress requires states to organize merit pay systems in single state agencies designated as grant-in-aid recipients. The tremendous proliferation of grants has thus had the spin-off effect of strengthening merit principles in state government.

The Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) of 1970 greatly reinforced that requirement; most states now have many merit features built into their personnel arrangements. Local governments have been similarly affected but to a lesser extent.

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