- For the record label, see Crony Records
Cronyism is partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications. Hence, cronyism is contrary in practice and principle to meritocracy. Cronyism exists when the appointer and the beneficiary are in social contact; often, the appointer is inadequate to hold his or her own job or position of authority, and for this reason the appointer appoints individuals who will not try to weaken him or her, or express views contrary to those of the appointer. Politically, "cronyism" is derogatorily used. The word "crony" first appeared in 18th century London, believed by many to be derived from the Greek word χρόνιος (chronios), meaning "long-term", however, crony appears in the 1811 edition of Grose's Vulgar Tongue with a decidedly non-collegiate definition, placing it firmly in the cant of the underworld.[1] A less likely source is the Irish Language term Comh-Roghna (pron. ko-ronə), which translates to "close pals", or mutual friends.
Governments are particularly susceptible to accusations of cronyism, as they spend public money. Many democratic governments are encouraged to practice administrative transparency in accounting and contracting, however, there often is no clear delineation of when an appointment to government office is "cronyism". It is not unusual for a politician to surround him- or herself with highly-qualified subordinates, and to develop social, business, or political friendships leading to the appointment to office of friends, likewise in granting government contracts. In fact, the counsel of such friends is why the officeholder successfully obtained his or her powerful position — therefore, cronyism usually is easier to perceive than to demonstrate and prove.
In the private sector, cronyism exists in organizations, often termed 'the old boys club' or 'the golden circle', again the boundary between cronyism and 'networking' is difficult to delineate.
Moreover, cronyism describes relationships existing among mutual acquaintances private organizations where business, business information, and social interaction are exchanged among influential personnel. This is termed crony capitalism, and is an ethical breach of the principles of the market economy; in advanced societies, crony capitalism is a breach of market regulations, e.g. the Enron fraud is an extreme example of crony capitalism.
Given crony capitalism's nature, these dishonest business practices are frequently (yet not exclusively) found in societies with ineffective legal systems. Resultantly, there is an impetus upon the legislative branch of a government to ensure enforcement of the legal code capable of addressing and redressing private party manipulation of the economy by the involved businessmen and their government cronies.
The economic and social costs of cronyism are paid by society. In the form of reduced business opportunity for the majority of the population, reduced competition in the market place, inflated consumer goods prices, decreased economic performance, inefficient business investment cycles, reduced motivation in affected organizations, and the diminution of economically productive activity. A practical cost of cronyism is manifest in the bad workmanship of public and private community projects. Cronyism is self-generating, cronyism then begets a culture of cronyism. This can only be apprehended by a comprehensive, effective, and enforced legal code, and empowered government agencies who can effect prosecutions in the courts.
All appointments that are suspected of being cronyism are controversial. The appointed party may choose to either suppress disquiet or ignore it, depending upon the society's level of freedom of expression and individual personal liberty.
Some instances of cronyism are readily transparent. As to others, it is only in hindsight that the qualifications of the alleged "crony" must be evaluated.
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Notable examples
Cronyism can exist anywhere, in both free and not-so-free states. In general, authoritarian and totalitarian regimes are more vulnerable to acts of cronyism simply because the officeholders are not accountable, and all office holders generally come from a similar background ( e.g. all members of the ruling party ). Some situations and examples include:
- George Washington was criticized for appointing Alexander Hamilton as the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury after Hamilton had served as Washington's aide during the American Revolutionary War. Nonetheless, the contributions Hamilton made to stabilizing the currency and securing outside capital for the fledgling democracy are well known. Referring to Hamilton's appointment as cronyism seems particularly disputable in retrospect, although it is only after looking at his accomplishments that this determination can be made.
- Appointing cronies to positions can also be used to advance the agenda of the person making the appointment. And it can also spectacularly fail to do so. In medieval England, King Henry II arranged the appointment of his good friend Thomas Becket to be Archbishop of Canterbury. Henry believed that Becket would promote the king's agenda but was dismayed to see Becket adhere to his own conscience. Becket eventually excommunicated the king and the king allegedly incited three knights to murder Becket in response.
- Examples of cronyism can be found historically in a number of communist states. The cultural revolution in China was initially popular due to the perception that Mao Zedong was ridding the state of a number of officials who had obtained their positions by dint of friendship with communist authorities.
- The business and labor community have also seen charges of cronyism. President Theodore Roosevelt led an attack on the cronyism against the oil, steel, banking and other businesses that had conspired to set prices by maintaining virtual monopolies through cronyism. Through interlocking directorates it was not uncommon to see various corporate boards share members among each other.
- One of the highest level cases of cronyism occurred during the Kennedy administration in the United States. Robert S. McNamara was appointed by President John F. Kennedy without any experience, a point that McNamara made clear in the 2003 documentary The Fog of War. McNamara's role in the disastrous Vietnam War was crucial and he is often considered "the architect of the Vietnam War". Kennedy originally offered him a job as United States Secretary of Treasury and when McNamara admitted to having no experience he gave him Secretary of Defense. Even though McNamara confessed no experience in defense, Kennedy insisted he accept the position.
- US President George W. Bush was accused of cronyism after the nomination of Harriet Miers to the US Supreme Court.[2] Miers had no previous judicial experience and demonstrated little knowledge of constitutional law, and her selection was rejected by many conservatives and liberals. The appointment of Michael D. Brown to the head of FEMA was also be considered a case of cronyism, and Brown had no experience pertaining to his job.[3] [4] The administration has also been accused of cronyism for reducing Scooter Libby's sentence in the Plame Affair.[5]
- An example of cronyism, with devastating effects, is the appointment of Manto Tshabalala-Msimang as the South Africa's minister of health. Thabo Mbeki, widely known as an AIDS dissident, practices cronyism by keeping her in her position. She was widely seen as following an AIDS policy in line with the ideas of South African President Thabo Mbeki, who for a time expressed public doubts about whether HIV caused AIDS. In 2002, the South African Cabinet affirmed the policy that "HIV causes AIDS" which as an official statement silenced any further speculation on this topic by Cabinet members, including the President. In August of 2003 the cabinet also voted to make anti-retrovirals available in the public sector, and instructed Tshabalala-Msimang to carry out the policy. South Africa has the highest rate of HIV infections in the world. Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, on the other hand was fired from her position as deputy minister of health. She expressed long-term disharmony and disagreement on HIV/AIDS and other issues between herself and the Minister of Health (Dr. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang)[9];
- Paul Wolfowitz was mentioned[6] in connection with cronyism after the World Bank committee charged him with violation of ethical and governance rules as bank president by showing favoritism to his companion in 2005. The report noted that Mr Wolfowitz broke bank rules and the ethical obligations in his contract, and that he tried to hide the salary and promotion package awarded to Shaha Riza, his companion and a bank employee, from top legal and ethics officials in the months after he became bank president in 2005.
References
- ^ "Crony: An intimate companion, a camrade; also a confederate in a robbery" - Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785 [1811]. Grose
- ^ BillOReilly.com: The O'Reilly Factor Flash
- ^ Cronyism
- ^ Adam Bellow on Nepotism, Cronyism & Harriet Miers on National Review Online
- ^ BBC NEWS | Americas | Bush not ruling out Libby pardon
- ^ The Guardian - Wolfowitz under fire after partner receives promotion and pay rise
See also
External links
- SuperNews: Hurricane Katrina - A political flash cartoon about the cronyism surrounding Michael D. Brown and Hurricane Katrina.
- Cronies - Robert Bryce's 2004 book, "Cronies: Oil, The Bushes, And The Rise of Texas, America's Superstate"
Rocky the squirrel is the big three,White wedding,Rich pigs of San Luis Obispo
San luis obispo is full of sorrow because the poor are falling into abject poverty,while the city leaders banter back and forth giving much lip service but no action.They are however in the pockets of rich development companies and they do pat themselves on the back for all the cronyism they have for their own ilk.There are more and more homeless people.This is class genocide.The systematic removal and demise of the poor.
Author: VoiceofObispo
Keywords: malloy sanluisobispo prop8 tylerlordhamilton gay hudgens
Added: December 4, 2008
GEO Background - Investigation shows GEO groups has history of prisoner abuse
WILLACY COUNTY - The GEO group, the prison corporation at the center of the indictments has a long history filled with allegations of prisoner abuse. The abuse has sometimes even turned deadly. A former corrections officer who did not want to be identified says she was on-duty at the Willacy State Jail in 2001 when Gregorio De La Rosa, Jr. was beaten to death by fellow inmates. She says he was bloody and not very responsive after the incident. De La Rosa died just four days before his release date. His family sued the prison owner at that time, the GEO group known then as Wackenhut. The family won a $47 million settlement. The former corrections officer says De La Rosa's incident was not a result of an incompetent staff since the jail was fully staffed. She was employed there for more than six years and says it was a good company to work for. However, not everyone agrees. Paul Wright, editor of Prison Legal News, a prison watchdog group, says that the GEO Group has a bad reputation for a reason. "They gain their contracts through lobbying and cronyism and political favoritism," Wright said. "They make their profits once they have the contracts through short staffing their facilities and underpaying their staff." Wright says the GEO runs prisons full of problems. "Very high incidents of escapes, assaults, murders, sexual assaults and riots as well," he said. However, the former corrections officer of the jail says that there's always going to be riots and assaults in a prison setting. She says those incidents don't make it to the news because they are kept in-house. Lawmakers are calling for a review of all GEO's contracts in Texas, though they claim it has nothing to do with the Willacy County Indictments, which accuse the Vice President of the U.S., Dick Cheney of wrong doing since he owns a stock in company connected to the GEO group.
Author: JAGGoliath
Keywords: dick cheney alberto gonzales indicted texas prison abuse willacy county grand jury vanguard group organized crime juan angel guerra attorney district goverment corruption mervyn mossebacker geo sex scandal Against operation goliath jaggoliath
Added: December 1, 2008
FRY #109 The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the Stabilisation and Association Process
http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/financial_assistance/cards/publications/fry_strategy_paper_en.pdf -Statistical office. For Kosovo, assistance will concentrate on supporting the establishment and capacity building of the public service and on the reinforcement of the elected provisional institutions for self-government, so as to facilitate the swift transfer of relevant powers from UNMIK to the new local administration. It is particularly important that rapid steps are taken to introduce the Basic Public Service Law and to put in place the structure of an impartial, politically neutral, public service to take forward the programmes of the new authorities". - This is a particularly vital sector for EC intervention in a country whose political class has been linked to organised crime and cronyism. FRYs
Author: h4ck3rm1k3
Keywords: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the Stabilisation and Association Process
Added: November 16, 2008
Cronyism in Suriname
http://www.couscousglobal.com Our friends in Suriname discuss the existence of cronyism in their country.
Author: Couscousglobal
Keywords: couscous global surinam debate cronyism discussion
Added: November 14, 2008
Engage President Elect Obama - Write Letters Now
For we, the people, to overtake the special interests with our elected leaders, we must write letters and show up for marches and rallies. E-mails are a way for politicians to avoid engaging us. Send snail mail. My personal issues that I am concerned about is enforcement of existing immigration laws and seals the boarders so tight, a mouse will have a hard time crossing into our country without being documented. Also, this war on terror is a sham. The U.S. is spreading more terror and death than any other country in the last several years. It's time to end the terror.
Author: GregsDailyVlog
Keywords: Ron Paul revolution federal government President Elect Obama immigration special interests. lobbyists corporate bailouts Change.Gov Terror Lies Bush Barack Israel Iran CIA death change war Dennis Kucinich Cynthia McKinney AIPAC corruption cronyism political crony capitalism
Added: November 12, 2008