Dynasty - Political Families in Republics

Political Families in Republics

Though in elected governments rule does not pass automatically by inheritance, political power often accrues to generations of related individuals in republics. Eminence, influence, tradition, genetics, and nepotism may contribute to this phenomenon.

Family dictatorships are a different concept, in which political power passes within a family due to the overwhelming authority of the leader, rather than informal power accrued to the family.

Some political dynasties:

  • The Beazley and Crean families (Australian Labor Party)
  • Ziaur Rahman's and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's families (Bangladesh)
  • Aung San Suu Kyi's family (Burma)
  • The Nehru-Gandhi family (India)
  • The Soekarnos (Indonesia)
  • The Bhutto family (Pakistan)
  • The Zia family (Pakistan)
  • The Macapagal Family (Philippines)
  • The Aquino Family(Philippines)
  • The Estrada Family (Philippines)
  • The Marcos Family (Philippines)
  • The Medici family (Republic of Florence)
  • Lee Kuan Yew's family (Singapore)
  • Solomon Bandaranaike's family (Sri Lanka)
  • The Churchills/Dukes of Marlborough (UK)
  • The Adamses (United States)
  • The Kennedys (United States)
  • The Bushes (United States)
  • The Long family (United States)
  • The Roosevelts (United States)
  • The Tafts (United States)
  • The Cuomo family (United States)
  • The Udalls (United States)

Read more about this topic:  Dynasty

Famous quotes containing the words republics, political and/or families:

    “Royalty is a government in which the attention of the nation is concentrated on one person doing interesting actions. A Republic is a government in which that attention is divided between many, who are all doing uninteresting actions. Accordingly, so long as the human heart is strong and the human reason weak, Royalty will be strong because it appeals to diffused feeling, and Republics weak because they appeal to the understanding.”
    —Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)

    “Since the Civil War its six states have produced fewer political ideas, as political ideas run in the Republic, than any average county in Kansas or Nebraska.”
    —H.L. (Henry Lewis)

    “Families need families. Parents need to be parented. Grandparents, aunts, and uncles are back in fashion because they are necessary. Stresses on many families are out of proportion to anything two parents can handle.”
    —T. Berry Brazelton (20th century)