Meritocracy And Public Administration

Santiago Bautista
Essay#2
Literally, the term meritocracy means the government system in which the access to all positions is determined exclusively by the ability, capacity and competition (merit)of the individuals to carry out those positions, and not by discriminatory factors such as social class, race, sex, age, and political connections. Meritocracy, nevertheless, is also used to describeany organization or society in which the access to the positions of leadership in all the areas of activity is based on the merit of its members. This leadership includes positions in labor,industrial, commercial, financial, academic, and the political sphere, and it is independent of any corrupting influence that may lead to discrimination and favoritism.
Americans like to think that theUnited States is the incarnation of the meritocratic principle in the world: a country where the individuals are exclusively judged by their abilities, capacities and character. However, in spite of astrong tradition of respect towards the meritocratic principle in American society, for a long time a practice existed that systematically violated this principle: the discrimination against minorities,specially against African Americans. This all changed in 1964 when congress approved the Civil Rights Act, which, among other things prohibited all discrimination regarding race, religion, sex andancestry, reaffirming therefore the meritocratic principle of equal opportunity for all, and the merit of the most qualified, over those other individuals. However, I personally consider that a widerange of problems has arisen and broken out in America. The indefinite permanence in positions like the Supreme Court Justices is more of a quasi aristocratic and elitist conception, rather than one basedon merit. Additionally, the illicit enrichment of civil servants, corruption, nepotism, lobbyism, and corporatocracy show the deficiencies of the administrative system of the United States.
The...