Patronage
As well, the term may refer to a type of corruption or favoritism in which a party in power rewards groups, families, or ethnicities for their electoral support using illegal gifts or fraudulently awarded appointments or government contracts.
In many Latin American countries, patronage developed as a means of maintaining control over the populace, concentrating economic and political power in a small minority which held privileges that the majority of the population did not.
[3] In this system, the patrón holds authority and influence over a less powerful person, whom he protects by granting favors in exchange for loyalty and allegiance.
With roots in feudalism, the system was designed to maintain an inexpensive, subservient labor force, which could be utilized to limit production costs and allow wealth and its privileges to be monopolized by a small elite.
[4] Long after slavery, and other forms of bondage like the encomienda and repartimiento systems were abolished, patronage was used to maintain rigid class structures.
Samuel Johnson defined a patron as "one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached the ground, encumbers him with help".
Many languages[citation needed] have terms for patrons (such as the English "mecenate") that are derived from the name of Gaius Maecenas, generous friend and adviser to the Roman Emperor Augustus.
Artists as diverse and important as Chrétien de Troyes, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, William Shakespeare, and Ben Jonson all sought and enjoyed the support of noble or ecclesiastical patrons.
Political leaders have at their disposal a great deal of patronage, in the sense that they make decisions on the appointment of officials inside and outside government (for example on quangos in the UK).
In some democracies, high-level appointments are reviewed or approved by the legislature (as in the advice and consent of the United States Senate); in other countries, such as those using the Westminster system, this is not the case.
Other types of political patronage may violate the laws or ethics codes, such as when political leaders engage in nepotism (hiring family members) and cronyism such as fraudulently awarding non-competitive government contracts to friends or relatives or pressuring the public service to hire an unqualified family member or friend.
Tammany boss William M. Tweed was an American politician who ran what is considered now to have been one of the most corrupt political machines in the country's history.
To prevent further political violence and to assuage public outrage, Congress passed the Pendleton Act in 1883, which set up the Civil Service Commission.
Beginning in 1969, a Supreme Court case in Chicago, Michael L. Shakman v. Democratic Organization of Cook County, occurred involving political patronage and its constitutionality.
[20] Boliburguesía is a term that was coined by journalist Juan Carlos Zapata in order to "define the oligarchy that has developed under the protection of the Chavez government".
The power of the Barmakids in those times is reflected in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights; the vizier Ja'far appears in several stories, as well as a tale that gave rise to the expression "Barmecide feast".
We know of Yahya b Khalid al Barmaki (805) as a patron of physicians and, specifically, of the translation of Hindu medical works into both Arabic and Persian.
In all likelihood, however, his activity took place in the orbit of the caliphal court in Iraq, where at the behest of Harun al Rashid (786 -809), such books were translated into Arabic.
[23]In the same manner as commercial patronage, those who attend a sporting event may be referred to as patrons, though the usage in much of the world is now considered archaic—with some notable exceptions.
