The Civil Service Act of 1883, also known as the Pendleton Act, which

Question

The Civil Service Act of 1883, also known as the Pendleton Act, which created a professional corps of administrators, was passed after a disappointed office-seeker assassinated President James A. Garfield. For a hundred years, this system has anchored American government service to competence rather than corruption. The best way to preserve this state in the new millennium is to maintain the Pendleton Act as it is.

Which of the following would be most useful to evaluate the argument’s conclusion?

(A) The methods that the Swiss and British governments have used to prevent corruption in government service for the past one hundred years

(B) The current level of job satisfaction among government office-seekers and office-holders

(C) The levels of competence and corruption in American government service between 1950 and the present

(D) The number of Presidents assassinated since the passage of the Pendleton Act

(E) The percentage of office-holders fired or convicted on charges stemming from corruption during the first hundred years of the Pendleton Act

This question is part of the  GMAT Club Critical Reasoning : Evaluate" Revision Project.

BassanioGratiano · Accepted Answer

The Civil Service Act of 1883, also known as the Pendleton Act, which created a professional corps of administrators, was passed after a disappointed office-seeker assassinated President James A. Garfield. For a hundred years,  this system has anchored American government service to competence rather than corruption. The best way to preserve this state in the new millennium is to maintain the Pendleton Act as it is.  Which of the following would be most useful to evaluate the argument’s conclusion?

Essentially, we are concerned about maintaining the service to competence rather than corruption. The conclusion is that to maintain this state we must maintain the Pendleton Act.

A. The methods that the Swiss and British governments have used to prevent corruption in government service for the past one hundred years
 Other governments are irrelevant to the American government. If the Pendleton Act is not broken, why fix it?

B. The current level of job satisfaction among government office-seekers and office-holders
 Job satisfaction is irrelevant. If the Pendleton Act anchors disgruntled office-seekers and office-holders then we are preserving this state.

C. The levels of competence and corruption in American government service between 1950 and the present
 The whole point of the Pendleton Act is to anchor American government service to competence than corruption. If competence is on the low and corruption is on the high then perhaps the Pendleton Act isn't working for us.

D. The number of Presidents assassinated since the passage of the Pendleton Act
 This number could apply to anyone such as terrorists or crazies. The Pendleton Act only applies to those in government service. Because this statement is too general we remove it.

E. The percentage of office-holders fired or convicted on charges stemming from corruption during the first hundred years of the Pendleton Act
 This could be a good contender but C shines more.

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  krndatta . This is one of those questions in which I am forced to consider  what I think  the question-writer may have been going for, and that will  not  happen with an official question. Without reading other responses, I would say that answer choice (E) addresses  corruption  in some way but does not even touch on  competence . If I were to think of antonyms of these two words, I would not include the other in either one.

corrupt (adj.)—ANT. pure, unalloyed, honest (just the first three words that came to mind)
competent (adj.)—ANT. inept, clumsy, unskilled

This is to say that  corruption  and  competence  are not mutually exclusive, at least in my view, and that is a serious problem with (E). We cannot assume that if, say, 5 percent of office-holders had been convicted of corruption between 1883 and 1983, the other 95 percent were adjudged to have been competent. The  percentage  that lies at the heart of the answer choice is a red herring.

I will admit that I selected (C) after about two and a half minutes, based on little more than a hunch that that was the answer the question-writer had in mind, and that it was the only option that included both competence and corruption. The 1950 date is off-putting, though, not to mention that I have no idea what to make of  the levels of competence . That seems a purely subjective measure to me, but I may be bringing too much real-world knowledge to the table.

My advice: Stick to official questions so that you can build skills that are pertinent to the test at hand. This question seems off-kilter to me. Even so, thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

This argument concludes that the best way to have good governance in the future is to preserve the Pendleton Act. It bases that claim on the record of the first hundred years under that Act. The argument assumes that American government service is still uncorrupted and that no better way exists to preserve that state.

(A) The methods used by other governments in other countries are irrelevant to this argument, which only concerns America. Furthermore, one cannot assume that the Swiss and British governments are free of corruption.

(B) The opinions, wishes, and satisfaction levels of government applicants and employees are irrelevant to the level of corruption.

(C) CORRECT.  This would confirm or deny the assumption that American government service is currently not corrupt. The argument only claims that this was so for the first hundred years after the passage of the Pendleton Act. There is no information about the level of corruption for the past twenty-some years.

(D) The number of Presidents assassinated is utterly irrelevant to an argument about corruption in government service.

(E) This percentage of corrupt office-holders in the first hundred years of the Pendleton Act would provide no information about the level of corruption in government service for the past twenty years, which is the gap in the evidence. Thus, investigating this percentage would not be that useful for the evaluation of a conclusion that involves the immediate present and the future.

gmat blows · Answer

C, the system has worked up until now, but we dont know if it will be effective in the new millennium. Since this system was created based on a disappointed office seeker (aka the level of job satisfaction), the same condition must be evaluated for the new millennium.

zaarathelab · Answer

C for me

E only mentions the %age of ppl convicted. The %age of convictions (high or low) does not give any indication of the competence levels (only conviction rates).

Ideally the evaluation should have been from 1883, but anyhow 1950 onwards still seeks to serve a purpose than no. of convictions.

aimtoteach · Answer

Hi,

After reading once, I narrowed down to E and C. Now the only reason I eliminated E is because it just mentions the evidence of corruption. NOT for Competence.

While in C - both are discussed.

The Civil Service Act of 1883, also known as the Pendleton Act, which created a professional corps of administrators, was passed after a disappointed office-seeker assassinated President James A. Garfield. For a hundred years, this system has anchored American government service to  competence rather than corruption . The best way to preserve this state in the new millennium is to maintain the Pendleton Act as it is. Which of the following would be most useful to   evaluate the argument’s conclusion?

A. The methods that the Swiss and British governments have used to prevent corruption in government service for the past one hundred years    Irrelevant

B.  The current level of job satisfaction among government office-seekers and office-holders

C.  The levels of  competence and corruption  in American government service between 1950 and the present   Perfect! This gives both the parameters we need to evaluate on as per the question stem.

D. The number of Presidents assassinated since the passage of the Pendleton Act 
 E. The percentage of office-holders fired or convicted on charges stemming from corruption during the first hundred years of the Pendleton Act 
Only corruption degree is being measured - nothing about competence.

Hence C is the correct option

Temurkhon · Answer

Premise: For a hundred years, this system has anchored American government service to  competence rather than corruption

Conclusion: The best way to preserve this state  in the new millennium is to maintain  the Pendleton Act as it is.

Assumption:  In a new millennium one should mantain "competence rather than corruption" system

Choices A,B,D are out of scope, E has no tie to conclusion which states about new millenium

only  C  fits the assumption

Skywalker18 · Answer

The Civil Service Act of 1883, also known as the Pendleton Act, which created a professional corps of administrators, was passed after a disappointed office-seeker assassinated President James A. Garfield. For a hundred years, this system has anchored American government service to competence rather than corruption. The best way to preserve this state in the new millennium is to maintain the Pendleton Act as it is.

Which of the following would be most useful to evaluate the argument’s conclusion?

A. The methods that the Swiss and British governments have used to prevent corruption in government service for the past one hundred years -  The methods used by other governments in other countries are irrelevant to this argument, which only concerns America. Furthermore, one cannot assume that the Swiss and British governments are free of corruption. 
B. The current level of job satisfaction among government office-seekers and office-holders - Irrelevant 
C. The levels of competence and corruption in American government service between 1950 and the present -  Correct -This would confirm or deny the assumption that American
government service is currently not corrupt. The argument only claims that this was so for the first hundred years after the passage of the Pendleton Act. There is no information about the level of corruption for the past twenty-some years. 
D. The number of Presidents assassinated since the passage of the Pendleton Act- Irrelevant 
E. The percentage of office-holders fired or convicted on charges stemming from corruption during the first hundred years of the Pendleton Act- This percentage of corrupt office-holders in the first hundred years of the Pendleton Act would provide no information about the level of corruption in government service for the past twenty years, which is the gap in the evidence. Thus, investigating this percentage would not be that useful for the evaluation of a conclusion that involves the immediate present and the future.

Answer C

BillyZ · Answer

mynamegoeson  From Manhattan ( Jonathan Schneider )

The author states that the US Gov has been anchored to competence rather than corruption for 100 years, starting at 1883. This would bring us up to 1983. Although it is not known specifically when the speaker is talking, the speaker then mentions that maintaining the act will work in the " new millennium ." Hence, the speaker is interested in the  years from 2000 onward . As such, we need to know: has anything changed since 1983? Did competence levels decrease? Did corruption levels rise? Why did the speaker say that the act has helped for only 100 years? We are asked which would be the most helpful. C would be the most helpful because it would allow us to be sure that nothing has gone seriously amiss since 1983.

JonShukhrat · Answer

Dear  IanStewart

Could you please help with this problem? This one is unofficial, and I almost exhausted official ones.

The conclusion:  The best  way to preserve this state in the new millennium is to maintain the Pendleton Act as it is.

Now I need to evaluate whether maintaining the Act as it is is the best way or whether there are better ways of achieving the target. The correct answer must help to identify whether maintaining is indeed the best way. Am I right? However, the correct choice C seems to answer a different question.

(C) The levels of competence and corruption in American government service between 1950 and the present

This option may help identify whether the Act helped until now and whether it can help in the future. But it doesn’t show whether maintaining it is the best way. Even if the levels of competence and corruption improved, there still can be better ways. And even if the levels worsened, maintaining the Act can be the best out of available ways. So, C seems to not directly target the conclusion. Is my reasoning valid?

Many thanks beforehand!

IanStewart · Answer

I don't see any reason to study this question. It's one of those prep company questions that asks us to "evaluate an argument" that doesn't exist; there is no "argument" in the passage. There is just a claim.

As you point out, the "OA" doesn't correctly address the conclusion, so it can't be the right answer. We want to know if something might be better than the Pendleton Act, not whether the Pendleton Act works.

If we credit the explanation quoted in a post above, the one that appears to be from someone affiliated with the prep company, then we're meant to think the "hundred years" mentioned in the stem ended in 1983. That's contradicted by the use of verb tenses in the stem. When the stem says the Act "for a hundred years has anchored government service to competence", that means this "anchoring" is ongoing. It would need to say "anchored", not "has anchored", if the Act might no longer be "anchoring". So it's a premise of the argument that the Act still works. That's not something that can be wrong, or that we need further information about.

As the question is written, I'd say A is the best answer choice, but there isn't much reason to debate the right answer to questions like this one.

krndatta · Answer

AndrewN ,

Why can't option E be the answer? 
if lets say 60% were fired or convicted on charges stemming from corruption. Then it is best to maintain the act. 
But if only 10 or 15 % are fired, then what is the point of maintaining the act. Throw it away.

What do you feel?

Thanks

krndatta · Answer

AndrewN Thanks for the reply buddy! As a rule of thumb should we stick to those answer choices that address both the issues that are talked about? Note: Your advice taken

AndrewN · Answer

No, do not look to create a quick-and-easy rule, even a general one, except to consider what, exactly, the question asks, and what information, exactly, you have. In this particular case, I found it odd that answer choice (E) touched on corruption only, since the passage focuses on a relationship between competence and corruption. In a strengthen or weaken question, it might be fine to deal with one part or the other in a two-pronged argument or hypothesis. Just be careful about creating some artificial scaffolding that you might then use to bypass thinking about the question. You always want to reason your way through CR.

- Andrew

nayas96 · Answer

In option (C), doesn't the time frame between 1950 to the present make it invalid. If the act was established in 1883, and we are talking about 100 years in establishment, why are we considering only between 1950 to present.

The unhidden assumption is that, since it worked before for 100 years, it should work in the future too! It was the time frame between 1950 to present that threw me off.

egmat   KarishmaB   AndrewN 
Kindly please explain the above discrepancies! And correct me, if I am wrong

Posted from my mobile device

AndrewN · Answer

I think this question is getting too much airtime,  nayas96 . I have gone back and looked at other responses in the thread, and I agree with  IanStewart  and  JonShukhrat . Still, to touch on your query, there is indeed a major assumption that underlies the logic of answer choice (C). The date 1950 hardly matters. I am guessing that the question-writer just wanted to toss in some date that would fall under the 100-year (or so) timeline since the passage of the Pendleton Act to see whether the test-taker was paying attention to that detail. We would have to assume that the American government had continued to adhere to the Pendleton Act up to some unspecified time either prior to 2000 or shortly thereafter. (Just as people do not stop saying "Happy New Year" after 1 January, they might continue to say  the new millennium  into the early 2000s.) Perhaps the question-writer felt that an examination of the most recent 50-year period, in terms of  competence and corruption in American government service , would provide a reasonable way to tell whether the Pendleton Act was serving its intended purpose and might continue to do so into the 2000s. Frankly, I am surprised to see the "Manhattan Prep" source tag. The question looks more like a sketch that was rushed to print.

Please look to official materials for Verbal preparation. Nevertheless, thank you for following up.

- Andrew

krndatta · Answer

AndrewN

Can you please explain the part in bold again? Apologies for bothering you so much. 
I am not getting this part.

This is to say that corruption and competence are not mutually exclusive, at least in my view, and that is a serious problem with (E). We cannot assume that if, say, 5 percent of office-holders had been convicted of corruption between 1883 and 1983, the other 95 percent were adjudged to have been competent. The percentage that lies at the heart of the answer choice is a red herring

KarishmaB · Answer

Here is my take on this question: 
As a practice question, it serves one purpose - it helps one practice how to focus on the conclusion and not get distracted.

For a hundred years (from 1883 to 1983), P act has anchored American government service to competence rather than corruption.

Conclusion: The best way to preserve this state in the new millennium is to maintain the Pendleton Act as it is.

The conclusion says that the best was to stay anchored to competence and not corruption is to maintain the P act as it is i.e. no need to update it in the new millennium i.e. it serves its purpose in this millennium too.

What will help us evaluate this claim?

(C) The levels of competence and corruption in American government service between 1950 and the present

1950 is just a random year in which we know the P act was serving its purpose. The statement asks us to evaluate the levels of competence and corruption while P act was working well till present (certainly beyond the 100 yrs timeframe). If today the levels are the same as in 1950, it looks like P act is working well as it is today too (in the new millennium). If today the level of competence has gone down while corruption has risen then P act may not be good for the millennium as it is and may need updation.

Answer (C)

I do see that other experts have a different take on this question. That wouldn't usually happen for official questions.

nayas96

AndrewN · Answer

There are two points I was making:

Corruption is not the opposite of competence. The question seems to be written with such a dichotomy in mind, but language is a tricky thing.   The percentage in question does not help us evaluate anything. What is the difference between, say, a 50/50 split in corrupt/competent office-holders and a 45/55 split? How would this knowledge allow us to assess the argument any better? We cannot select numbers that we want to fit the argument, so answer choice (E) is a blind alley.

That is about it. I agree with  KarishmaB  that it is important to  practice how to focus on the conclusion and not get distracted . Even if a question is not airtight, you want to employ the same method of reasoning.

- Andrew

The Civil Service Act of 1883, also known as the Pendleton Act, which

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

The Civil Service Act of 1883, also known as the Pendleton Act, which

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615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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