Meritocracy
Topic: Equality and Social Justice · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Meritocracy is a system in which positions and rewards go to people according to their talent and effort, as shown in tests or in their work. The word comes from a satire written by Michael Young in 1958. He used it as a warning, not as praise. Supporters say merit is fair and efficient. Critics say it ignores unequal starting points, such as coaching, good schools and family wealth. So it can make existing inequality look deserved.
Example
Admission to top colleges in India through competitive entrance exams is a meritocratic system. A rich student with expensive coaching and a first-generation learner may both sit the same exam. Critics point out that their "merit" partly reflects their very different starting points.
Don't confuse with
- Principle of competition: this is the broader liberal view that free and fair competition is the best way to share out jobs and admissions. Meritocracy is about rewarding talent and effort once they have been measured.
- Proportionate justice: this means matching rewards to effort, skill and risk, but only after everyone has equal rights. Meritocracy by itself does not ask whether the starting points were equal.
Related concepts
- Equality of opportunity
- Equality of outcome
- Natural inequalities
- Socially produced inequalities
- Inequalities of choice and circumstance