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Nepotism
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Nepotism is the showing of favoritism toward relatives or friends based upon that relationship, rather than on an objective evaluation of ability or suitability. For instance, offering employment to a relative, despite the fact that there are others who are better qualified and willing to perform the job, would be nepotism. The word nepotism is from the Latin word 'nepos', meaning "nephew" or "grandchild".
tism gained its name after the church practice in the Middle Ages, when some Catholic popes and bishops — who had taken vows of chastity, and therefore usually had no children of their own — gave their nephews positions of preference such as were often accorded by fathers to sons.
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Encyclopedia
Nepotism is the showing of favoritism toward relatives or friends based upon that relationship, rather than on an objective evaluation of ability or suitability. For instance, offering employment to a relative, despite the fact that there are others who are better qualified and willing to perform the job, would be nepotism. The word nepotism is from the Latin word 'nepos', meaning "nephew" or "grandchild".
Papal nepotism
Nepotism gained its name after the church practice in the Middle Ages, when some Catholic popes and bishops — who had taken vows of chastity, and therefore usually had no children of their own — gave their nephews positions of preference such as were often accorded by fathers to sons. Some nephews, however, were in fact illegitimate sons of popes – thus, in older dictionaries it is possible to find "nephew" defined as "illegitimate son of an ecclesiastic". Several popes are known to have elevated nephews and other relatives to the cardinalate. Often, such appointments were used as a means of continuing a papal "dynasty". For instance, Pope Callixtus III, head of the Borgia family, made two of his nephews Cardinals; one of them, Rodrigo, later used his position as a Cardinal as a stepping stone to the papacy, becoming Pope Alexander VI. Coincidentally, Alexander elevated Alessandro Farnese, his mistress's brother, to the cardinalate; Farnese would later go on to become Pope Paul III. Paul also engaged in nepotism, appointing, for instance, two nephews, aged fourteen and sixteen, as cardinals. The practice was finally ended when Pope Innocent XII issued the bull Romanum decet Pontificem in 1692. The papal bull prohibited popes in all times from bestowing estates, offices, or revenues on any relative, with the exception that one qualified relative (at most) could be made a Cardinal.
Examples
Nepotism is a common accusation in politics when the relative of a powerful figure ascends to similar power seemingly without appropriate qualifications. For example, the popular British English expression "Bob's your uncle" is often thought to have originated when Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, promoted his nephew, Arthur Balfour, to the esteemed post of Chief Secretary for Ireland in what was widely seen as an act of nepotism.
More recently, when U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski was elected Governor of Alaska, he appointed his daughter, State Representative Lisa Murkowski, to fill the remaining two years of his seat and was accused by some of nepotism. John F. Kennedy was accused of nepotism for his appointment of his brother Robert Kennedy as Attorney General.
Many countries in the world have examples of this tilt towards dynastic rule, such as:
- Azerbaijan: President Heydar Aliyev, who was suffering from failing health, appointed his son Ilham Aliyev Prime Minister during the last months of his presidency in 2003. Then just prior to the election the elder Aliyev dropped out and put his son up as presidential candidate instead. Aliyev was elected to the presidency and his father died just two months later, having successfully sealed the transfer of power to his son.
- Trinidad and Tobago: Prime Minister Patrick Manning appointed his unelected wife Hazel Manning to the Cabinet for two consecutive terms, first as Minister of Education and currently as Minister of Local Government.
- India: The Nehru-Gandhi Family, which has exercised enormous influence over Indian politics for the past century, has shown a strong tendency for nepotism, as manifested most starkly through "dynastic politics". The most obvious recent example is the rise of Rahul Gandhi, widely described as a "certain future Prime Minister", despite his lifelong lack of success in academic and professional life, including his failure to graduate from Harvard College, his admission to Harvard also having been seen as a "non-merit exception". In the state of Tamilnadu, legendary politician Karunanidhi promotes his entire family members in various leadership positions in his party DMK, his first son M. K. Azhagiri controls the party in southern areas, wheres his second son M.K. Stalin is nominated for next party president and Chief ministerial candidate, his daughter Kanimozhi is Member of Parliament, his nephew Murasoli Maran and grand nephew Dayanidhi Maran were central ministers.
In the state of Punjab, the present Chief Minister Parkash Badal has appointed his son Sukhbir Badal as deputy CM, projecting him probably as future Chief Minister !
- Cuba: Former president Fidel Castro appointed his brother Raul as Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in 1959, and became Cuba's vice president in 1976. Upon Fidel Castro's incapacitation in 2006, Raul took on the duties of Cuba's president. Fidel´s close family members have been living in big farms or "fincas" disguised as "agricultural research centers" or "army facilities", but in practice they are mansions for Fidel's relatives.
- Malaysia: Tun Abdul Razak, the second Prime Minister, and his son, Najib Tun Razak, the current Deputy Prime Minister; Khairy Jamaluddin who won his position as Deputy Chief of UMNO Youth Wing with the influence of his father-in-law, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the current Prime Minister.
- Maldives: President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom once had 13 of his brothers, brothers-in-law, and classmates as members of his cabinet.
- Syria: Bashar al-Assad was appointed as President after his father Hafez's death, despite being too young for the post under the country's constitution as it then stood.
- North Korea: Kim Jong-il became Chairman of the National Defense Commission, Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, and General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (the ruling party since 1948), succeeding his father Kim Il-sung, the founder of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, who died in 1994.
- Fiji: in 2009, Voreqe Bainimarama appointed Francis Kean, his brother-in-law, at the head of the naval forces after he served a sentence in jail.
- France: in 2008 Jean Sarkozy, son of the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, stood for election in a canton in the affluent Parisian suburb of Neuilly, the same district in which his father was Mayor. The original candidate was a loyal member of Sakozy's UMP Party named Arnaud Teulle. He stepped aside to allow Jean Sarkozy to run. This resulted in French commentators announcing "behold, the rise of the dauphin".
- Greece: Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis entered in the Parliament in 1989 after he was elected in the 1st District of Thessaloniki as a MP with New Democracy, a party founded by his uncle, Constantine Karamanlis. Nowadays, he has been Prime Minister for two consecutive terms. He has also included Michalis Liapis, a cousin of himself, in three of his cabinets. George Papandreou, Leader of the Official Opposition in Hellenic Parliament, was firstly elected MP in 1981 with PASOK, the party led by his father, Andreas, and he has been included in numerous cabinets under either his father or Kostas Simitis. His grandfather, George Papandreou, also served as Prime Minister for a few short terms. Dora Bakoyannis, Greek Foreign Minister, served also as Minister for Culture under her father, Constantine Mitsotakis, who was New Democracy Chairman for eight years. Her brother, Kyriakos, is also a MP.
- Sri Lanka: After winning the Presidential election in 2005 Mahinda Rajapakse appointed younger brother Gotabhaya Rajapakse a former army officer as the secretary of defense, another younger brother Basil Rajapakse as a minister, elder brother Chamal Rajapakse also as a minister he further went on to appoint several close friends and associates as presidential advisers including Sajin Vass Gunawardene who was also appointed CEO of the state owned Mihin Air, though he did not have any qualifications.
- Vietnam: After "winning" the first ever democratic election in South Vietnam in 1955, Ngo Dinh Diem appointed his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu in charge of the private armies and secret police. Ngô Đěnh C?n, his younger brother, was put in charge of the former Imperial City of Hu?.
- Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez and Cilia Flores, president of the Venezuela National Assembly, are also known for their influences to get family members in the government. Flores managed to place relatives in as many as nine of sixty permanent positions at the National Assembly- three siblings, two nephews, a cousin, the mother of that cousin, her mother-in-law and an aunt.
At some point, nepotism at high levels of government might serve to create what are in effect monarchies in nominal republics. In Syria, the case of the al-Assads mentioned above is one example. In Egypt, the likely similar succession of Gamal Mubarak to the Presidency upon Hosni Mubarak's death is equivalent. In Iraq, had there not been an overthrow of the government of Saddam Hussein with the US-led invasion, it would have been highly likely that his younger son, Qusay Hussein, would have succeeded to the presidency.
Outside of national politics, accusations of "nepotism" are made in instances of prima facie favouritism to relatives, such as:
- Peaches Geldof's role as magazine editor in an MTV reality show - produced by a company owned by her father Bob Geldof. One-time Guardian contributor Max Gogarty has also been accused of taking advantage of family contacts to achieve success disproportionate to his ability; his father Paul Gogarty is a frequent travel writer for the newspaper.
- The Coppola Family of Hollywood includes many distinguished filmmakers. The careers of both Sofia Coppola and Nicolas Cage are attributed to aid by director Francis Ford Coppola who cast his daughter Sofia in The Godfather Part III. Nonetheless, both have subsequently established independent careers. Indeed Cage changed his last name in order to avoid such charges.
Social and Economic impacts
Nepotism and Cronyism deny ordinarily qualified people access to income and power. This can have long term and short term impacts on a society depending on the extent of the takeup and social acceptability of these practices.
Places where nepotism is believed to have a negative impact on a society
- the Civil Service
- intergovermental and intragovermental relations (Ambassadors, Civil Service attached personnel)
See also
External links
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