Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
How Meritocracy Became Self-Defeating
2026-06-25
Meritocracy is self-defeating. The ideals that animate meritocracy—a principled commitment to fairness and a prudent concern for the general welfare—are worthy; and meritocratic critiques of the various aristocracies that meritocracy displaced are apt. But while meritocracy initially succeeded at correcting aristocratic unfairness and imprudence, its mature form undermines the ideals that it purports to serve. Today, meritocracy sustains unfair dynastic privilege and distorts economic and social life to elevate elite over shared interests. Mature meritocracies promote a distinctively meritocratic style of economic inequality and impose associated social and political maladies. Moreover, meritocratic inequality is an inexorable consequence of meritocracy’s successes and so cannot be overcome by ridding society of vestigial aristocratic elements or by other attempts to perfect meritocracy’s implementation. Rather, repairing meritocratic inequality and its attendant maladies requires a rejection of meritocracy itself.