Meritokratie als Problem: Leistungsbezogene Bewertungen in Berufungsverfahren

As a principle for the establishment and legitimation of social order, meritocracy is regarded either as a normative standard of modern societies or as an ideology that is constantly refuted by the empirical evidence of social inequalities. This article proceeds from a different starting point and focuses on the challenges that emerge when the abstract principle of meritocracy is put into practice. Drawing on archived files of 145 professorial appointment procedures from the second half of the 20th century, the article reveals a specific problem: Meritocracy is not the only principle applied to establish and legitimize social order in appointment procedures. Professorial hiring is oriented not only toward selecting the best candidates but also toward their social fit. In practice, it is necessary to reconcile both principles, the orientation toward merit and the orientation toward social fit. The article shows, first, that this problem of social order first arose in the 1970s when the meritocratic principle became so binding that merit was the sole justification for appointment decisions. Second, it reveals how reviewers and committees dealt with this problem and reconciled the meritocratic selection of the best with the social fit of candidates. The article contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the principle of meritocracy by shedding light on problems in the practical accomplishment of the principle.