Nepotism

Nepotism is favouritism granted to relatives or friends, without regard to their merit. The word nepotism is from the Latin word nepos (meaning "nephew" or "grandchild").

Types of nepotism

Papal

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 such positions of preference as were often accorded by fathers to son.

Several popes elevated nephews and other relatives to the cardinalate. Often, such appointments were 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.

Political

Nepotism is a common accusation in politics when the relative of a powerful figure ascends to similar power seemingly without appropriate qualifications. The British English expression "Bob's your uncle" is 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.

Examples

Australia

Anna Bligh, who won the 2008 Queensland State election has been accused of nepotism by giving her husband Greg Withers a bureaucratic position.

Azerbaijan

President Heydar Aliyev appointed his son Ilham Aliyev Prime Minister during the last months of his presidency in 2003. 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.

Bangladesh

Former PM Khaleda Zia is accused of favouring her son Tareq Zia in political arena.

Fiji

In 2009, Voreqe Bainimarama appointed Francis Kean, his brother-in-law, at the head of the naval forces (though Francis Kean had served a jail sentence).

France

In 2008 Jean Sarkozy, son of President Nicolas Sarkozy, stood for election in a canton in the Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, in a district of which his father used to be mayor. The original candidate (a loyal member of Sarkozy's UMP Party) stepped aside to allow Jean Sarkozy to run. This resulted in French commentators announcing "behold, the rise of the dauphin".
In October 2009 Jean Sarkozy is about to become [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epad EPAD]'s director despite lacking any real diploma yet and having no professional experience .

Greece

Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis entered to the Parliament in 1989 after his election in the 1st District of Thessaloniki as a MP of New Democracy, a party founded by his uncle, Constantine Karamanlis. He has also included Michalis Liapis, his cousin, in two 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 has been included in numerous cabinets under either his father or Kostas Simitis.
Dora Bakoyannis, Greek Foreign Minister, served as Minister for Culture under her father, Constantine Mitsotakis, New Democracy Chairman for eight years. Her brother, Kyriakos, is also a MP.

India

The Nehru-Gandhi Family has shown a strong tendency for nepotism, as manifested through dynastic politics. A recent example is the rise of Rahul Gandhi.
In the state of Tamilnadu, politician Karunanidhi has promoted many of his family members in various leadership positions in his party DMK; his first son M. K. Azhagiri controls the party in southern areas, his second son M.K. Stalin is nominated for next party president and Chief ministerial candidate, his daughter Kanimozhi is Member of Parliament, and 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 as a likely future Chief Minister.

Maldives

President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom has had thirteen of his brothers, brothers-in-law, and classmates as members of his cabinet.

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. In turn, Kim Jong-un, his son is touted to succeed him.

Pakistan

Benazir Bhutto was appointed the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party without direct election because she was the daughter of former leader Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Upon Benazir's death her son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was appointed co-chairman without election despite being only eighteen years old at the time and lacking any knowledge of politics or life in Pakistan. The other chairman of the PPP was Benazir's husband Asif Ali Zardari who was accused of widespread corruption during his wife's previous terms in office.
Nawaz Sharif the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League has appointed his brother Shahbaz Sharif as an unelected vice-preseident of his party. Sharif had also appointed his son's father in law, Ishaq Dar as the finance minister during his tenure in office.

Romania

Elena Basescu, the daughter of the current president Traian Basescu, was elected president of the youth organization in the political party which was ruled by Traian Basescu before becoming president of Romania.

Sri Lanka

After winning the Presidential election in 2005 Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed 3 of his brothers to his government: Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, a former army officer, as the secretary of defense; Basil Rajapaksa as Senior Adviser to President and Chamal Rajapaksa as Cabinet Minister of Ports & Aviation and Irrigation & Water Management. He also appointed several close friends and associates as presidential advisers, including Sajin Vass Gunawardene (CEO of the state owned Mihin Air, though he did not have any qualifications.). Mahinda Rajapaksa also made his son a cadet officer even though he did not meet certain requirements.

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.

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.

United States

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 of the United States.

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 Đình Cẩn, his younger brother, was put in charge of the former Imperial City of Huế.

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.

Remarks

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 entertainment

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. In a sketch of The Kevin Bishop Show, which frequently has less-than-flattering fake perfume adverts for celebrities, Peaches Geldof got one - "Nepotism, the smell of Peaches Geldof". Before this, a mock voice said "I'm a fashion model, a TV presenter, and I'm a journalist as well...did I mention my dad's 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.
Lily Allen's career can be credited to her father Keith Allen's connections and also the family name.

Social and economic effects

Nepotism and cronyism can have short- and long-term effects on a society, depending on the extent of the takeup and social acceptability of these practices.

Areas in which, it is believed, nepotism has negative societal effects: the civil service
intergovermental and intragovermental relations (ambassadors, civil-service attached personnel)

Translation

The word "Nepotism" occurs as such in the following languages: English, Simple English, Swedish.

Translation(s) in other languages: Arabic: محسوبية, Bulgarian: Непотизъм, Catalan: Nepotisme, Czech: Nepotismus, Danish: Nepotisme, German: Nepotismus, Greek: Νεποτισμός, Spanish: Nepotismo, Esperanto: Nepotismo, Basque: Nepotismo, Persian: پارتی‌بازی, French: Népotisme, Korean: 네포티즘, Croatian: Nepotizam, Indonesian: Nepotisme, Icelandic: Frændhygli, Italian: Nepotismo, Hebrew: נפוטיזם, Georgian: ქართული, Hungarian: Nepotizmus, Malay: Nepotisme, Dutch: Nepotisme, Japanese: 縁故主義, Norwegian (Bokmål): Nepotisme, Polish: Nepotyzm, Portuguese: Nepotismo, Russian: Непотизм, Slovak: Nepotizmus, Sorani: خزمگەریەتى, Serbian: Непотизам, Finnish: Nepotismi, Thai: คติเห็นแก่ญาติ, Ukrainian: Непотизм, Chinese: 裙帶關係.