The Ethics of Nepotism in Public Administration

Nepotism and the Public Administrator: The Price is Low Morale
Executive Summary
How does nepotism impact the public administration sector? This paper shows that the price of nepotism in public administration is often low morale. When government positions are given to family members and friends of politicians or those already in positions of power, the negative effect of nepotism is felt by other workers and staff members. Instead of people earning these posts based on a system of meritocracy, nepotism gives the impression that favoritism is what matters—and that being well-connected or part of the ruling “dynasty” is what will win one a high post in public service. The ethical issue is that a lack of fairness and rewarding of service positions based on merit rather than on familial connection fosters a negative spirit among stakeholders that can lead to destructive impulses being given more sway than they would otherwise be given. The recommendation for this issue is for public administrators to avoid engaging in nepotism so as to not give the appearance of favoritism; instead, appointments should be based on merit. This study adds to the topic of nepotism in public administration by focusing on the current events of the Trump Administration and the appointment of the president’s son-in-law as a senior White House advisor.
Introduction
Nepotism is not new to government. John F. Kennedy gave the plum position of U.S. Attorney General to his brother Robert despite the latter’s youth and inexperience. The reason was obvious to all: they were brothers and Kennedy wanted someone he could trust working alongside him. In many cases, nepotism in the public sector is related to issues of trust: the individual responsible for appointing positions wants them to go to people he or she trusts, which often turns out to be those closest to his or her inner circle—friends and family members (Abrams, Cross, Lesser & Levin, 2003). However, doing so can create resentment and distrust among other workers. Indeed, in Kennedy’s own administration and among the public there was a great deal of distrust between his inner circle and the outer circle. The impact of this practice creates problems, as the current situation with the Trump Administration has shown as he has placed his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner in places of high level security clearance, which has troubled other members of the administration (Hopkins, 2018). This research is thus anchored in both current events and peer-reviewed articles.
Narrative
The issue of nepotism in the public administration sector and how it leads to low morale among workers was researched by following the current events saga of the Trump Administration as well as by using Google Scholar to research the topic among a variety of peer-reviewed scholarly journal databases using the keywords “nepotism,” “public administration,” “president,” and “trump.” The issues that appeared as a result of these searches showed that nepotism was linked with the issue of trust for those involved in the nepotism and with the issue of low morale for those outside the circle of nepotism. In most cases, nepotism is viewed as an abuse of power, a corrupt practice, and an issue in which favoritism is showed not necessarily to the individual most suited for the job but rather to the individual closest to the person in power (Greenhalgh, 2010). In the Trump Administration, nepotism has reared its head with the appointing of Jared Kushner as a senior advisor to his father-in-law in the White House. While Trump may have had a good reason for doing so (considering Kushner’s well-known connection to foreign leaders like Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu), the appointment did not sit well with other members of the Administration and within the year, many members had either left their posts are been fired. Morale within the White House was routinely depicted as low, tense and stressful (Samuels, 2018).
Ethical Context
As a result of instances of nepotism like that shown by Kennedy in the 1960s, federal law was amended in 1978 to address exactly the issue of nepotism: according to that law, “a public official may not appoint, employ, promote, advance, or advocate for appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement, in or to a civilian position in the agency in which he is serving or over which he exercises jurisdiction or control any individual who is a relative of the public official” (Federal Anti-Nepotism Statute, 1978). Yet, today, nepotism continues in the public sector as it is seen as a way to reward supporters and to ensure trust among tight-knit circles (Flavier, Chikireva & Ivanova, 2017). On the other hand, Jaskiewicz, Uhlenbruck, Balkin and Reay (2013) find both good and bad reasons for nepotism in administration and “propose that reciprocal (vs. entitlement) nepotism is associated with three family conditions that indicate generalized (vs. restricted) social exchange relationships between family members” while showing that “generalized social exchanges are valuable to firms because they facilitate tacit knowledge management that can lead to competitive advantage” (p. 121). The specific ethical dilemma is that nepotism is a form of favoritism that can show unfair privilege to members of one’s family over others who might otherwise deserve the post based on merit and experience. While nepotism does not always indicate a lack of ethics (for the family member may in fact be the most qualified position) it does tend to give the impression to others that the system is rigged with regard to favoring those connected to individuals in power.
In the present scenario, President Trump has rewarded his son-in-law with a top level post in the White House, and the effect has been “terrible” in the words of another White House aide whose tenure was short-lived as a result of his vocal objections to the current White House workplace culture. The problem is that Trump has projected an aura of incompetence by granting high-level positions to family members and in turn morale has disintegrated.
Course Themes
From a utilitarian perspective, it could be argued that nepotism can be helpful or the greater good when the appointed person is the best in the job and everyone knows it. However, in such instances, it appears less like nepotism and more like meritocracy. In most cases, this is not how it appears and nepotism hurts the common good as it leads to depressed morale, as the Trump Administration case has shown. From a deontological perspective, it should be argued that a public administrator has a duty to appoint the most qualified person to the post because of the service that the individual must demonstrate to the public.
Analysis, Evaluation and Critique
For the Trump White House, the dilemma of Jared and Ivanka in the White House with so little governmental experience behind them eventually became a PR nightmare for Trump. Jared’s inexperience has been noted by foreign leaders and that poses a problem, as Stracqualursi (2018) reports: “Trump has been frustrated with his son-in-law Kushner after his top secret security clearance was downgraded this week and a report came out that officials from four countries had discussed ways to manipulate him during their dealings on foreign policy.” While so far Jared is still technically involved as an advisor, his role has diminished but the negative effects of nepotism have already seen dozens of departures. Trump is now seeing how ill-qualified his son-in-law actually is and getting qualified people into his circle, like Gen. Kelly, has become a top priority.
Recommendations
While the nepotism shown by Trump towards Kushner is understandable given the backgrounds of the individuals (Trump coming from business and entertainment industries where nepotism is typical), it should not be practiced in the public sector because the issue of trust is most important and the public as well as other workers in the administration need to know that the best person who has shown the most merit has been selected for the top posts. Without this confidence, morale can become low as trust and relationships break down—as has been seen in the White House under Trump. Trump should thus dismiss Kushner for the good of the administration in an effort to boost morale and show that he is committed to appointing only the most qualified personnel to the highest levels of office.
Summary and Closing
In conclusion, nepotism is not necessarily an indication of unethical practice in and of itself because what appears like nepotism could actually be a belief on the part of the administrator that he has in fact appointed the best person for the job. In Trump’s case, it appears that he did in fact believe that Kushner would do well—but the appearance of nepotism was enough to hurt morale and throw the administration into a depressed state, criticized by the public as well as by other figures. For the sakes of stability and positive morale among all stakeholders, nepotism in public administration should be avoided at all costs and appointments made instead based on a system of meritocracy.

References
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