Nepotism
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Nepotism is the hiring or promoting of one's relatives with little or no regard for qualifications.[1]
Nepotism is a time-honored way for politicians to leverage their position in office by creating or providing jobs for their immediate family. It is also generally considered corrupt,[2] and contrary to the concept of rule of law and meritocracy.[3]
It also tends to be a trait of conservative political figures, despite their professed love of meritocracy.[4]
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[edit] House of Lords
Traditionally, a member of the UK's House of Lords passed his parliamentary seat down to a hereditary peer. In 1999, the House of Lords Act ended this practice and Britons cannot become a member of the upper chamber by "virtue of a hereditary peerage."[5]
[edit] Spoils system
“”To the victor belong the spoils of the enemy.
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| —Senator William Marcy of New York, 1832[6] |
A related practice is the spoils system (also known as the patronage system) in which politicians reward their supporters (as opposed to just family) with positions in the government after they win an election. The origin of the spoils system in the United States is commonly attributed to the Jackson administration but was seen earlier in the Democratic-Republican-Federalist rivalry of Jefferson's day. Support for a merit-based system grew in the mid- to late-1800s as a growing federal government required better qualified people to run it. The Civil Service Act of 1883 finally made using the spoils system to fill certain government positions illegal.[7] Although the term is of American origin, the system is used in many other countries.
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ Says my brother, whom I appointed chief definer of words
- ↑ Not according to my nephew, whom I appointed head of the ethics committee
- ↑ Not according to my sister's boyfriend's cousin's roomate in summer camp in the year before high school, whom I appointed head of the meritocracy committee
- ↑ See George W. Bush, Bill Kristol, Chris Buckley, Meghan McCain, Liz Cheney, Jonah Goldberg, etc...
- ↑ legislation.gov.uk: House of Lords Act 1999
- ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica: spoils system
- ↑ United States History: The Spoils System versus the Merit System