View source for Sinecure

{{short description|Office or job with a salary but which requires little to no actual responsibility}}
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{{Wiktionary}}

A '''sinecure''' ({{IPAc-en|"|s|I|n|I|k|j|U@r}} or {{IPAc-en|"|s|aI|n|I|k|j|U@r}}; from the [[Latin]] {{lang|la|sine}}, 'without', and {{lang|la|cura}}, 'care') is a position with a [[salary]] or otherwise generating income that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the [[medieval]] church, where it signified a post without any responsibility for the "[[cure of souls|cure [care] of souls]]", the regular [[liturgical]] and pastoral functions of a [[cleric]], but came to be applied to any post, secular or ecclesiastical, that involved little or no actual work. Sinecures have historically provided a potent tool for governments or monarchs to distribute [[patronage]], while recipients are able to store up titles and easy salaries.

A sinecure can also be given to an individual whose primary job is in another office, but requires a sinecure title to perform that job. For example, the [[Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Canada)|Government House Leader]] in Canada is often given a sinecure ministry position so that they may become a member of the [[Cabinet of Canada|Cabinet]]. Similar examples are the [[Lord Privy Seal|Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal]] and the [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]], whose holders are ''ex officio'' members of the [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|Privy Council]] and may therefore be admitted to the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom]] (which is formally the executive committee of the Privy Council). The [[minister without portfolio]] is a frequent example of this sinecure, often employed to give [[cabinet (politics)|cabinet-level]] positions to enough members of all partners in a [[coalition government]]. Other sinecures operate as [[legal fiction]]s, such as the British office of [[Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds]], used as a legal excuse for [[resignation from the British House of Commons|resigning from Parliament]].

==History==
[[File:Tizian 109.jpg|thumb|Girolamo and cardinal [[Marco Cornaro (cardinal)|Marco Cornaro]] investing Marco, abbot of [[Carrara]], with his [[benefice]]. [[Titian]], c. 1520]]
''Sinecure'', properly a term of [[ecclesiastical law]] for a [[benefice]] without the [[cure of souls]], arose in the [[Church of England|English Church]] when the [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] had no cure of souls nor resided in the [[parish]], the work of the incumbent being performed by a [[vicar]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=sinecure — definition, examples, related words and more at Wordnik|url=https://www.wordnik.com/words/sinecure|website=Wordnik.com|access-date=2020-05-25}}</ref> Such sinecure rectories were expressly granted by the patron. They were abolished by [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] under the [[Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act 1840]].<ref>{{cite act |date=11 August 1840 |type=Section |index=XLVIII |legislature=[[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] |title=Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act 1840 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/3-4/113/enacted |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Service|first=United States Foreign|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MH1NAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA46|title=American Foreign Service|date=1936|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|language=en}}</ref>

Other ecclesiastical sinecures were certain [[cathedral]] dignities to which no spiritual functions attached or incumbencies where by reason of depopulation and the like, the parishioners disappeared or the parish church was allowed to decay. Such cases eventually ceased to exist.<ref>Cf. M. Guasco, ''Storia del clero'', Laterza (1997), p.20</ref>

The term is also used of any office or place to which salary, [[emolument]]s, or [[Dignitas (Roman concept)|dignity]], but no duties, are attached. The British civil service and the royal household, for example, were loaded with innumerable offices which, by lapse of time, had become sinecures and were only kept as the reward of political services or to secure voting power in Parliament. They were prevalent in the 18th century, but were gradually abolished by statutes during that and the following centuries.<ref>{{EB1911|wstitle= Sinecure | volume= 25 | page = 147; see last three sentences |quote= The British civil service and royal household were loaded.....}}</ref>

== Current usage ==
Below is a list of extant sinecures by country.<ref>As extracted from Lord Mackay of Clashfern (ed.) (2002) ''Halsbury's Laws of England'', 4th ed. Vol.14.</ref>

===United Kingdom===

==== Positions associated with membership of the Privy Council/Cabinet ====
{{uk-gov-positions}}
*[[Lord President of the Council]]
*[[Lord Privy Seal|Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal]]
*[[First Secretary of State]]
*[[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]]
*[[Paymaster General]]

==== Positions used to effect [[resignation from the House of Commons]] ====
*[[Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham|Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds]]
*[[Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead]]

==== Positions associated with the Whips' Office ====
*[[Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury]] – held by the [[Chief Whip]] in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]]
*[[Treasurer of the Household]] – held by the Deputy Chief Whip in the Commons
*[[Comptroller of the Household]] – held by a senior Commons Whip
*[[Vice-Chamberlain of the Household]] – held by a senior Commons Whip
*[[Lord High Treasurer|Lords of the Treasury]] – held by the several junior Commons Whips
* [[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms]] – held by the [[Chief Whip]] in the [[House of Lords]]
* [[Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard]] – held by the Deputy Chief Whip in the Lords
*[[Lord-in-waiting|Lords in Waiting]] – held by the several junior Lords Whips

==== Ceremonial and honorary positions ====
*[[Lord Clerk Register]]
*[[Lord Steward|Lord Steward of the Household]]
*[[List of Masters of the Horse|Master of the Horse]]
*[[Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports]]
*[[Constable of the Tower|Constable of the Tower of London]]
*[[Constables and Governors of Windsor Castle|Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle]]

===Canada===
*[[Deputy Prime Minister of Canada]]
*[[President of the Privy Council]] (given to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs)

===Australia===
* [[Vice-President of the Executive Council]]

===United States===
*[[Lieutenant governor (United States)|Lieutenant governor]] (most states)

===Russia===
*[[Office of Inspectors General]]

==See also==
*[[Board member]]
*[[Emeritus]], academia
*[[Minister without portfolio]]
*[[No-show job]]{{snd}}the same but illegal
*[[Ñoqui]]
*[[Quango]]
*[[Safe seat]]
*[[Featherbedding]]
*[[Ghost soldiers]]
*[[wikt:nonjob|nonjob]]
Christian churches:
*[[Abbé]]
*[[Benefice]]
*[[Simony]]
*[[Titular bishop]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{EB1911 poster|Sinecure}}
*Lord Mackay of Clashfern (ed.) (2002) ''Halsbury's Laws of England'', 4th ed. Vol.14, "Ecclesiastical Law", (see also current updates)
*{{cite book|title=A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities: Being a Continuation of the 'Dictionary of the Bible'|url=https://archive.org/details/adictionarychri05cheegoog|author=Smith, W.|pages =Sinecure|publisher=J.B. Burr Pub. Co.|year=1880}}
*[http://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/sinecura/ Definition on ''Enciclopedia Treccani''] {{in lang|it}}
*Maurilio Guasco, ''Storia del clero'', Bari:Laterza (1997), p.&nbsp;20 {{in lang|it}}

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[[Category:Canon law of the Anglican Communion]]
[[Category:Common law]]