re: #185 Nojay UK

This is why America’s democratic form of government is totally free from nepotism and inbred dynastic families. Right?

Well, no. But it also is not tied to a roll of the genetic dice like the old monarchies were.*

Political patronage was a huge thing in the US national political structure until the late 1800s. Following Garfield’s assassination the Civil Service exams came into being and that started some separation and emphasis on professionalism. But there are still a lot of appointments and an ability to do nepotism and crony selection for various offices. (State and local patronage issues are, IIRC, still an on-going thing though in places there are at least informal agreements. Though in our current political climate I think some of these are by the wayside now such as the DoJ getting more politicized.)

There have been US political “dynasties”. But they could be viewed as rarer than in Europe and perhaps limited by the youth of the USA compared to the European nations. (Is there a family with a nearly unbroken generational string of being political movers and shakers in US politics going back to the Founders?)

* - I except the English one from this since their royal power had been seriously curtailed compared to that of Russia, A-H, Germany, etc. by the early 1800s. A lot of indirect influence, but Parliament definitely had the upper hand.