Editing Meritocracy (section)

====The Tyranny of Merit====
In his book ''The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good?'', the American political philosopher [[Michael Sandel]] argues that the meritocratic ideal has become a moral and political problem for contemporary Western societies. He contends that the meritocratic belief that personal success is solely based on individual merit and effort has led to a neglection of the common good, the erosion of solidarity, and the rise of inequality. Sandel's criticism concerns the widespread notion that those who achieve success deserve it because of their intelligence, talent and effort. Instead, he argues that this belief is flawed since it ignores the role of luck and external circumstances, such as social and external factors, which are beyond an individual's control.<ref name="Sandel">{{cite book |last1=Sandel |first1=M. |title=The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good? |date=2020 |publisher=Allan Lane |isbn=9780241407608}}</ref>

As a consequence, Sandel attributes the increasing gap between economic "winners and losers", the decline of civic engagement and the rise of populism to the meritocratic ideal. In addition, he argues that the promise of meritocracy creates an elite that is disconnected from society and lacks empathy for those, who are left behind. Elite institutions including the Ivy League and Wall Street have corrupted the virtue, according to Sandel, and the sense of who deserves power.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Sandel: Why the elites don't deserve their status |url=https://unherd.com/thepost/michael-sandel/ |access-date=2022-05-24 |website=UnHerd |language=en-GB |archive-date=19 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519155829/https://unherd.com/thepost/michael-sandel/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Ultimately, the argument of [[Michael Sandel]] is that "meritocracy today functions less as an alternative to inequality than as its primary justification".<ref name="How Meritocracy fuels Inequality">{{cite journal |last1=Sandel |first1=Michael |title=How Meritocracy fuels Inequality - Part I |journal=American Journal of Law and Equality |date=2021 |issue=1}}</ref> Thus, he makes the case for a reconsideration of our understanding of success and the common good including public debates regarding the extent of the [[welfare state]]. According to Sandel, this entails a deliberation about what constitutes a contribution to the common good and how these ought to be rewarded. Hence, he appeals to move beyond [[distributive justice]] towards contributive justice, that is "creating conditions to enable everyone to contribute to the common good and to receive honor and recognition for having done so".<ref name="How Meritocracy fuels Inequality"/> To this end, he suggest public policies such as more [[progressive tax]]ation to reduce economic inequalities.<ref name="Sandel" />