Meritocracy: Difference between revisions

'''Meritocracy''' (''merit'', from [[Latin]] {{lang|la|mereō}}, and ''-cracy'', from [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|κράτος}} {{transliteration|grc|kratos}} 'strength, power') 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]].<ref>{{cite web |title=meritocracy |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/meritocracy?s=t |website=[[Dictionary.com]] |access-date=14 February 2016 |archive-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306040546/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/meritocracy?s=t |url-status=live }}</ref> Advancement in such a system is based on performance, as measured through examination or demonstrated achievement. Although the concept of meritocracy has existed for centuries, the first known use of the term was by sociologist [[Alan Fox (sociologist)|Alan Fox]] in the journal ''Socialist Commentary'' in 1956.<ref name = "Littler">{{Cite book |title= Against Meritocracy: Culture, Power, and Myths of Mobility |last= Littler |first= Jo |year= 2018 |publisher= Routledge |location= Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon |isbn= 978-1-138-88954-5 |page= 32}}</ref> It was then popularized by sociologist [[Michael Dunlop Young]], who used the term in his dystopian political and satirical book ''[[The Rise of the Meritocracy]]'' in 1958.<ref name="Fox">{{cite news |last=Fox |first=Margalit |date=25 January 2002 |title=Michael Young, 86, Scholar; Coined, Mocked 'Meritocracy' |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/25/world/michael-young-86-scholar-coined-mocked-meritocracy.html |access-date=19 February 2017 |archive-date=7 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107053854/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/25/world/michael-young-86-scholar-coined-mocked-meritocracy.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mijs |first1=Jonathan J.B. |last2=Savage |first2=Mike |title=Meritocracy, Elitism and Inequality |journal=[[The Political Quarterly]] |date=2020 |volume=91 |issue=2 |pages=397–404 |doi=10.1111/1467-923X.12828 |doi-access=free|hdl=1765/135370 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sachs-Cobbe |first1=Benjamin |title=Recent Work on Meritocracy |journal=[[Analysis (journal)|Analysis]] |date=2023 |volume=83 |issue=1 |pages=171–185 |doi=10.1093/analys/anac091 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Today, the term is often utilised to refer to social systems, in which personal advancement and success are primarily attributed to an individual's capabilities and merits.<ref name="Chang">{{cite journal |last1=Chang |first1=C.H. |title=How meritocracy is defined today?: Contemporary aspects of meritocracy |journal=Recent Issues in Sociological Research |date=2017 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=112–121 |doi=10.14254/2071-789X.2017/10-1/8 |doi-access=free }}</ref>