Meritocracy is a social and political system that allocates power, position and reward according to individual ability, talent and effort rather than inherited wealth, birth or class. The term was coined pejoratively by British sociologist Michael Young in his 1958 satirical book The Rise of the Meritocracy, warning that a society organized strictly around measured merit would create a new, self-justifying hereditary elite; Young later expressed dismay that politicians came to embrace meritocracy as an unambiguous good, the opposite of his intended warning. Sociologist Alan Fox had used the term in a similarly critical sense two years earlier, in a 1956 Socialist Commentary article.
Facts
Institution TypeSourced to the subject's own accountStratification system: an allocation regime that assigns social position, reward and political power by measured ability and effort rather than by inherited wealth or class, proposed as an alternative to the caste and class stratification already on this atlas. 1 Emergence PeriodSourced to the subject's own accountThe word meritocracy dates to the mid-twentieth century (Alan Fox, 1956; popularized by Michael Young's The Rise of the Meritocracy, 1958), though the underlying ideal of allocating position by talent and effort rather than birth has earlier roots, including Confucian civil-service examination systems and Enlightenment-era career-open-to-talent arguments. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Critiqued Here
Meritocracy is proposed by its advocates as an allocation principle superior to inherited class position, though critics, including Young himself, argue it obscures rather than eliminates class advantage.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Meritocracy
WikipediaLead section, definitionQuote, Lead section, definition
Meritocracy...is the notion of a political system in which economic goods or political power are vested in individual people based on ability and talent, rather than wealth or social class.
1. Wikipedia: Meritocracy
WikipediaEtymology section, coinageQuote, Etymology section, coinage
The term meritocracy was first used in 1956 by British sociologist Alan Fox.
Wikipedia: Sociology of Education
WikipediaAssociated With: Education, education and social reproduction sectionView the Source Frequently Asked Questions
Is meritocracy actually meritocratic in practice?
Michael Young coined the word in 1958 as a warning, not a compliment, and empirical sociology since has repeatedly found that inherited advantage still shapes who gets counted as meritorious in supposedly merit based systems.
The term meritocracy was coined by British sociologist Michael Young in his 1958 satirical book The Rise of the Meritocracy specifically to warn against a society organized strictly around measured ability and effort, not to endorse the idea; Young worried a merit label would make resulting inequality feel more justified rather than less. Later sociological research on social class stratification has repeatedly found that family wealth, cultural capital and access to good schooling continue to shape who is positioned to demonstrate merit in the first place, which is why Social Class Stratification is recorded on this atlas as critiquing the meritocracy institution rather than simply coexisting beside it.
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