Cronyism
Etymology
From "crony," seventeenth-century university slang for a long-standing companion, probably from Greek khrónios ("long-lasting," from khrónos, "time") — literally an old friend of long standing. The -ism turns that friendship into a system of governance. The etymology is fitting: cronyism is loyalty measured in years converted into a claim on power.
noun · /KROH-nee-iz-um/
The practice of granting jobs, contracts, or favors to close friends and associates rather than to the most deserving.
What it names
It reveals how much of institutional life runs on personal loyalty, so that the real qualification is often who you know rather than what you can do.
Example
The audit found that most of the emergency contracts had gone, through sheer cronyism, to the minister’s former business partners.
Related idea
Clientelism is a structured, ongoing exchange of benefits for political support, often reaching whole communities; cronyism is the more personal favoring of one’s own inner circle. One buys a base of voters, the other rewards a set of friends.