Question

At its beginning and endpoints, the civil service was (is) based on _____. in the years between it was based on _____.

Answer 1

I believe tha answer is: merit/patronage

In merit based civil service, the public servant is being chosen based on their Skills/capabilities in the related field.
Patronage based civil service, on the other hand, would chooese the public servants based on inside connection that they have with existing government officials.