Ross Douthat

On the evidence we have, the meritocratic ideal ends up being just as undemocratic as the old emphasis on inheritance and tradition, and it forges an elite that has an aristocracy's vices (privilege, insularity, arrogance) without the sense of duty, self-restraint and noblesse oblige that WASPs at their best displayed.

American Author

David Miliband

The 1970s - I was ten in 1975 - were a bad decade in all sorts of ways but the middle class had comfortable assumptions about the prospects for its children. The middle class was smaller then; it was a much less competitive Britain, less meritocratic.

British Politician

Nandan Nilekani

Infosys was going to be a different type of company. It was going to be very ethically run, meritocratic, quality-conscious, transparent. People didn't confuse the personal with the corporate.

Indian Politician

Andrew Neil

As class barriers tumbled and Britain became a more meritocratic society, young, well-educated Scots were best placed to exploit the new social mobility.

British Journalist

Britain's great postwar meritocratic experiment was broad-based, but it was in politics that the change was most dramatic.

Victor Davis Hanson

Even in its third century, America is still the most meritocratic nation in the world.

American Historian

When using 'meritocratic', think about the social or work context emphasizing fairness and achievement.

Context Importance

'Meritocratic' often suggests a positive view of fairness, where hard work is rewarded.

Positive Connotation

Sometimes 'meritocratic' can be used critically, to question if a system is truly fair.

Critical Context

 about our careers, about our status in the world today, than ever before. And it's, again, linked to something nice. And that nice thing is called meritocracy. Everybody, all politicians on Left and Right, agree that meritocracy is a great thing, and we should all be trying to make our societies really, really meritocratic.