The spoils is this case were the government jobs that the President had under his control. After Jackson won the presidency, he replaced the people in these positions with men of his own choosing. He believed that a government job was a privilege and not a right and that anyone of normal ability could do most government jobs. Therefore, he dismissed the old workers and brought in new people that he has reason to believe would be loyal to him and his policies. Nowadays we have a civil service commission to administer low level jobs-- not so may jobs are filled by presidential appointment.