What are favoritism, cronyism, and nepotism?
As favoritism is the broadest of these related terms, we’ll start with its definition. Basically favoritism is just what it sounds like; it’s favoring a person not because he or she is doing the best job but rather because of some extraneous feature-membership in a favored group, personal likes and dislikes, etc. Favoritism can be demonstrated in hiring, honoring, or awarding contracts. A related idea is patronage, giving public service jobs to those who may have helped elect the person who has the power of appointment. Favoritism has always been a complaint in government service. In 2002, a survey from the federal government’s Office of Personnel Management found that only 36.1 percent of federal workers thought promotions in their work units were based on merit. (Government Executive Magazine, “Playing Favorites,” by Brian Friel, October 2004). They believed that connections, partisanship, and other factors played a role. Cronyism is a more specific form of favoritism, referring to p
