patronage system
Jobs for loyalists
A patronage system is a political arrangement where those in power distribute government jobs, contracts, or favors to supporters rather than awarding them on merit.
The practice rewards loyalty over competence: Under the old patronage system, every election brought a wholesale turnover of city employees.
Also called the spoils system.
- Tammany HallInfamous Democratic political machine
- smoke-filled roomSecret political negotiation venue
- party bossPolitical organization's chief
- nepotismPreferring kin in hiring
- old boy networkInformal elite mutual-aid system
sinecure · quid pro quo · campaign donor · favoritism · subsidies · appointments · art commissions · cronyism · incumbency · benefactor · political machine · feudalism · grants · pork barrel · Medici family · vassalage · Gilded Age · lobbying
- RenaissanceLeonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Mona Lisa
- Gilded AgeGilded Age, robber baron, robber barons, Carnegie, Rockefeller
- Jacksonian EraAndrew Jackson, Democratic Party, Indian Removal Act, Trail of Tears, kitchen cabinet
- geishageisha, shamisen, koto, fan dance, white makeup
- Tudor GovernmentHouse of Commons, House of Lords, Star Chamber, Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII
- elite poweroligarchy, plutocracy, oligarch, plutocrat, oligarchs
patronage systemmeritocracy
Advancement through demonstrated ability
merit system · merit-based system · civil service examination · merit-based hiring · competitive examination
system, patron, patrons, systems, systematic, patronage, patronizing, matron, patronized