The term "spoils system" describes:

members of political parties who expected to earn government jobs from their party's elected officeholders.

supporters of civil-service reform

industrialists who took natural resources from the west tax-free.

profiteers who manipulated railroad stocks to their own private advantage

although world war i began in 1914, the united states did not join the war until 1917. the additional firepower, resources, and soldiers of the u.s. to tip the balance of the war in favor of the allies. remaining neutral. when war broke out in 1914, the united states had a policy of neutrality.

your answer would be (b)