Difference between revisions of "Cumătrism (Moldova)"

|The term ''cumătrism'' stands for the use of informal networks in the Republic of Moldova. While not in the official dictionary of Romanian language, in mass media and the vernacular the word is widely used and has two meanings.  First, ''cumătrism'' refers to the system of kinship relations created in the event called ''cumătria'', associated with religious ritual of baptizing a child. The second meaning has a pejorative connotation and describes the unmerited promotion of a candidate to a certain position, based on being a ''cumătru'' to someone with status. These two meanings are close to those of [[kumstvo]] in Montenegro, where the term stands for both the relationship with a godfather and the use of this relationship as competitive advantage. ''Cumătrism'' also occurs in Romania, where similar relations are associated with local customs. In both of these countries, the practice has connotations of political patronage, similar to [[padrino system]] in the Philippines, [[uruuchuluk]] in Kyrgyzstan, and [[yongo]] in South Korea.