In other words, what is a meritocratic society?

I will support any politician of Left and Right, with any halfway decent meritocratic idea.

Under the accountability system, the civil service continues to remain permanent, meritocratic, professional and politically neutral.

But I think it's insane to believe that we will ever make a society that is genuinely meritocratic. It's an impossible dream.

A meritocratic society is one in which if you've got talent and energy and skill, you will get to the top. Nothing should hold you back.

The new underclass is the other side of the meritocratic elite. Immigrants, in particular, do not enjoy the equality of opportunity that the word merit suggests.

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.

The appointment of the new civil service rank of Permanent Secretary has institutionalised and strengthened Hong Kong's tradition of a professional, meritocratic, honest, and politically neutral civil service and

Here, too, Egypt is at a disadvantage. Its economy is a variant of crony capitalism, in which economic success depends on one s political connections, rather than on the meritocratic free market competition from which liberty grows.

Chile is far from unique in this respect. From Colegio Nacional in Buenos Aires to Stuyvesant High School in New York City, institutions that are public, meritocratic, and free have long and distinguished records of achievement across the Americas.

Singapore should continue to be a role model for China, despite its smaller size. The success of both countries reflects many contributing factors, including a skilled and educated group of policymakers supplied by a meritocratic selection system, and a pragmatic, disciplined, experimental, and forward looking approach to policy.

Sooner or later, Young argued, meritocratic elites cease to be open they see to it that their children have a better chance than the offspring of the pioneer corps or home help corps. Like all elites before them, they become firmly established and use all available means to keep it that way.

But the most important reason why an elected president is better equipped than a monarch to catalyze a public conversation about a society s values and priorities is that he or she is more likely to be a person of superior ability. Indeed, that is why, on balance, a meritocratic system will always produce better results than a hereditary one.

Coherence, long time horizons, appropriate incentives, strong navigational skills, and decisiveness are desirable aspects of continuity in governance, especially in a meritocratic system managing complex structural shifts. To protect that and maintain public support for the investments and policies that sustain growth, Singapore needed to prevent corruption from gaining a foothold, and to establish consistency in the application of rules.

But, in the context of economic performance, it is important to emphasize that there is a huge difference between dictatorial regimes, where a single individual monopolizes all power à la Mubarak or Syrian President Bashar al Assad and China, where there has been competition and contestability within a large communist party. And it is the party, operating as a fairly inclusive and meritocratic institution, not an autocratic leader, that has governed in the post Mao period.