Merit as a Distributive Justice Principle

Merit and meritocracy are the targets of a wide range of critiques from across the ideological spectrum. This chapter proposes a reconceptualization of the two notions. Merit is defined as an open-ended, functional principle of distributive justice that necessarily attaches to the values and conceptions of the good operative in a given social practice or institution. The idea of meritocracy refers to social arrangements in which valued goods are distributed primarily or even exclusively in accordance with judgments of merit. Given the open-endedness of merit and its attachment to other norms and goals, meritocracies themselves come in a variety of forms. Meritocracy is a spectrum, not a monolith. The chapter introduces the distinction between two polar opposite models of meritocracy: telic and procedural. After offering a brief critique of the familiar procedural ideal of a free market of careers open to talents, the chapter develops a third conception of substantive meritocracy that lies between the procedural and telic extremes. A model of substantive meritocracy is illustrated in the context of college and university admissions.