Editing Meritocracy (section)

===Early conceptions===
The "most common definition of meritocracy conceptualizes merit in terms of tested competency and ability, and most likely, as measured by [[IQ]] or standardized achievement tests".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Levinson|first1=David|last2=Cookson|first2=Peter W.|last3=Sadovnik|first3=Alan R.|title=Education and Sociology: An Encyclopedia|year=2002|publisher=Taylor & Francis|page=436|quote=Most common definition of meritocracy conceptualizes merit in terms tested competency and power, and most likely as measured by IQ or standardized achievement tests.}}</ref> In government and other administrative systems, "meritocracy" refers to a system under which advancement within the system turns on "merits", like performance, intelligence, [[credential]]s, and education. These are often determined through evaluations or examinations.{{sfnp|Young|1958}}{{Page needed|date=May 2019}}

In a more general sense, meritocracy can refer to any form of evaluation based on achievement. Like "[[Utilitarianism|utilitarian]]" and "[[Pragmatism|pragmatic]]", the word "meritocratic" has also developed a broader connotation, and is sometimes used to refer to any government run by "a ruling or influential class of educated or able people".<ref>{{cite web|url= http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/meritocracy|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110910174019/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/meritocracy|url-status= dead|archive-date= 10 September 2011|title=Definition of Meritocracy|work=Oxford Dictionary|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=12 September 2011}}</ref>

This is in contrast to the original, condemnatory use of the term in 1958 by [[Michael Dunlop Young]] in his work ''[[The Rise of the Meritocracy]]'', who was satirizing the ostensibly merit-based [[Tripartite System]] of education practiced in the United Kingdom at the time; he claimed that, in the Tripartite System, "merit is equated with intelligence-plus-effort, its possessors are identified at an early age and selected for appropriate intensive education, and there is an obsession with quantification, test-scoring, and qualifications".<ref>{{cite book|title=Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought|year=1988|publisher=Fontana Press|page=521}}</ref>

Meritocracy in its wider sense, may be any general act of judgment upon the basis of various demonstrated merits; such acts frequently are described in [[sociology]] and [[psychology]].

In [[rhetoric]], the demonstration of one's merit regarding mastery of a particular subject is an essential task most directly related to the [[Aristotle|Aristotelian]] term ''[[Ethos]]''. The equivalent Aristotelian conception of meritocracy is based upon [[aristocratic]] or [[oligarchic]] structures, rather than in the context of the modern [[State (polity)|state]].<ref>Aristot. Pol. 2.1261b</ref><ref>Aristotle, (351 BC) ''Politics''. Book Three Part IV. (Jowett, B., Trans)</ref>