Nepotism
[7] Since the Middle Ages and until the late 17th century, some Catholic popes and bishops – who had taken vows of celibacy and, therefore, usually had no legitimate offspring of their own – gave their nephews such positions of preference as were often accorded by fathers to sons.
[13] In the second book of the Kural literature, which forms a manual for governments and corporations, Valluvar suggests about nepotism and favouritism thus: If you choose an unfit person for your job just because you love and you like him, he will lead you to endless follies.
Critics cite studies that demonstrate decreased morale and commitment from non-related employees,[22] and a generally negative attitude towards superior positions filled through nepotism.
[citation needed] Outside of national politics, accusations of "nepotism" are made in instances of prima facie favoritism to relatives.
[55][56] The government's ministries and secretariats are reportedly plagued with friends, family and supporters of the current party leaders, many of whom have been criticized for being incompetent at their jobs.
[57] On December 10, 2023, the libertarian president Javier Milei takes office – who campaigned criticizing the political "caste", an entelechy built to denigrate traditional political parties and among whose characteristics is that of appointing friends and family to public positions on a discretionary basis – and in one of his first measures he modifies the Mauricio Macri's Decree 93/2018 to be able to grant his sister, Karina Milei, the position of General Secretary of the Presidency.
[60] Anna Bligh, who won the 2009 Queensland State election, has been accused of nepotism by giving her husband Greg Withers a position as the Office of Climate Change head.
Steven's introduction exacerbated existing governance issues, with factional opposition led by City Football Group causing FIFA intervention to be threatened.
In Brazil, nepotism heavily affects the integrity of public institutions, including audit bodies responsible for overseeing executive decisions.
Studies indicate that around 30% of audit judges are directly related to other politicians, creating a network of familial ties that can lead to conflicts of interest and reduce the effectiveness of independent oversight (Transparency International, 2023).
[70] This high rate of nepotism often results in biased audit outcomes, eroding public trust and obstructing fair governance.
The presence of such familial networks within regulatory bodies not only compromises transparency but also perpetuates inefficiency and corruption, limiting reform efforts across Brazil’s political landscape (Instituto Não Aceito Corrupção, 2022).
[94] In June 2020, a fresh debate on nepotism followed soon after the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput,[95] which fans believe was in reaction to efforts by Bollywood insiders to boycott him.
[99] Suharto, Indonesia's second president, is involved in nepotism, alongside corruption and collusion (together, they are known as the KKN in Indonesian: korupsi, kolusi, dan nepotisme).
Companies belonging to Suharto's children, particularly Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana ("Tutut"), Hutomo Mandala Putra ("Tommy"), and Bambang Trihatmodjo, were given lucrative government contracts and protected from market competition by monopolies.
They are often referred to as the "modern dynasties" of Mauritian politics such as the Duval, Bérenger, Curé, Uteem, Mohamed, Boolell, Ramgoolam and Jugnauth families.
[110] In June 2020, MP Eshan Juman revealed details of a contract between the Ministry of Land and Housing and a private firm called Smart Clinics Ltd.
The contract was a lease of 60 years on 2 acres of prime beachfront state-owned land in Grande Rivière Noire, in the exclusive precinct of Tamarin in Black River.
[117] The action was widely criticized by intellectuals, NGOs and even parties member to the Pakatan Harapan coalition, who claimed it contravened principles of merit and fairness.
[118] Due to its small native population, Malta has an entrenched culture of nepotism which became more evident since the country gained independence from the British Empire in 1964.
[123] Singapore's government has been the target of numerous charges of nepotism, with several members of the Prime Minister's family holding high ranking posts.
[124] Former President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, has been accused of nepotism, appointing three brothers to run important ministries and giving out other political positions to relatives, regardless of their merit.
[135] In February 2010, Sir Christopher Kelly, chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said that more than 200 MPs used Parliamentary allowances to employ their own relatives in a variety of office roles.
[137] North Yorkshire Police's Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell was disciplined by the IPCC in 2011, but refused to resign, after admitting that he assisted a relative through the first stages of a recruitment process.
In 2008, 19 elected politicians of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) directly employed family members and relatives comprising 27 of its 136 staff.
One of the reasons given by the associate general counsel to defend the alleged nepotism was "if [the employees are] qualified and competed for [the positions] on their own, I don't see a problem with relatives working in the same organization.
In 1979, Bill Clinton, within weeks of being newly elected as Governor of Arkansas, appointed his wife Hillary to chair of the Rural Health Advisory Committee.
[146] In 1993, newly elected as President of the United States, he again appointed his wife to chair a Task Force on National Health Care Reform.
[149] [150] Current (since 1995)[151] US court rulings have held that the White House itself does not constitute an "agency" for the purposes of adhering to existing anti-nepotism laws on the books.
Nine positions in the National Assembly were filled by Flores' family members, including a mother-in-law, aunt, three siblings, a cousin and her mother, and two nephews.
