Meritocracy in the political and economic spheres
Abstract
The idea that our economic institutions should be designed meritocratically is back as a hot topic in western academic circles. At the same time political meritocracy is once again a subject of philosophical discussion, with some Western philosophers embracing epistocracy and Confucianism being revived among Eastern philosophers. This survey has the ambition, first, of putting differing strands of this literature into dialogue with each other: the economic with the political, and the Western with the Eastern. Second, we seek here to impose order on the debates over meritocracy by carefully separating out the four steps that must be traversed on the journey to a meritocratic conclusion. Third we want to promote a more productive debate moving forward by cleanly pulling apart three kinds of purported merit base.
Citation
Sachs-Cobbe , B A & X. Douglas , A 2024 , ' Meritocracy in the political and economic spheres ' , Philosophy Compass , vol. 19 , no. 1 , e12955 . https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12955
Publication
Philosophy Compass
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1747-9991Type
Journal article
Description
The authors acknowledge the support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, which by funding our Future of Work and Income Research Network helped to advance our thinking on meritocracy.Collections
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