Nepotism
Nepotism means favoring relatives or personal friends because of their relationship rather than because of their abilities. The word is generally used in a derogatory sense.
For example, if a manager employed or promoted a relative rather than a more qualified non-relative, that manager would be guilty of nepotism. Some biologists have suggested that a tendency towards nepotism is instinctive, a form of
kin selection.
The word
nepotism comes from the Latin word 'nepos', meaning "nephew". In the
Middle Ages, some
Catholic popes and
bishops, who had taken vows of chastity, raised their illegitimate sons as "nephews" and gave them preferences. 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, 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—one of the most corrupt popes—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) Cardinals. The practice was finally ended when
Pope Innocent XII issued a
bull 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.
Nepotism is a common accusation in politics when the relative of a powerful figure ascends to similar power seemingly without appropriate qualifications. For example, 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 of nepotism. (Murkowski won reelection on her own in
2004.)
John F. Kennedy was accused of nepotism by some for his appointment of his brother
Robert Kennedy as
Attorney General. Families elsewhere have also dominated politics of their homeland, such as
Tun Abdul Razak, the second
Prime Minister of Malaysia, and his son,
Najib Tun Razak, the current
Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia. Many countries in Asia have this tilt towards dynastic rule. In India, the
Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has been ruling India for most part since Independence while other people in India have always given preference to their kith and kin in various states in India. In the Indian state of
Bihar, the former Chief Minister
Laloo Prasad Yadav, widely known as one of the most corrupt Indian politicians
[http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/corruption-issues/2003-January/000241.html], elevated his nearly-illiterate wife
Rabri Devi to the post of Chief Minister, after a court ruling sentenced him on a corruption case making him unfit for the post. Similarly, Syria is supposedly a republic, but has been for intents and purposes an absolute monarchy since
Hafez Al-Assad came to power, appointing his son
Bashar al-Assad as his heir.
In Romania
nepotism is very commonly used as a word describing a 'connection' (relationship) that allows a person to obtain a certain job. 'Nepot' in Romanian means "nephew". During communist rule, nepotism was often the only way of getting a good, well-paid job.
Nepotism has also been known humorously as
payrola, after
payola.
In the
UK, the popular expression "And Bob's your uncle" is often thought to have originated when
Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, the
Prime Minister, appointed his nephew,
Arthur Balfour, to a prestigious position. This theory of origin is less than credible as the first use in print is not until 1937, Arthur Balfour was appointed
Chief Secretary of Ireland in 1887. Today the phrase simply means "no problem" or "everything is done", as in: "insert the plug, press the switch, and Bob's your uncle."
* Francis Fitzgerald. 1972.
Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam. Boston: Back Bay Books. ISBN 0316159190. pp. 94-97, 126-127.
*
Cronyism*
Simony*
Ingroup bias*
ethnic nepotism
