Editing Meritocracy (section)

==Etymology==
Although the concept has existed for centuries, the term "meritocracy" is relatively new. It was first used pejoratively by sociologist Alan Fox in 1956,{{refn|name=Littler}} and then by British politician and sociologist [[Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington|Michael Dunlop Young]] in his 1958 satirical essay ''The Rise of the Meritocracy''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Down with meritocracy: The man who coined the word four decades ago wishes Tony Blair would stop using it|last=Young|first=Michael|date=29 June 2001|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/jun/29/comment|location=London|access-date=15 December 2016|archive-date=5 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105001020/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/jun/29/comment|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ford, Boris|year=1992|title=The Cambridge cultural history of Britain|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgecultura0000unse/page/34 34]|isbn=978-0-521-42889-7|url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgecultura0000unse/page/34}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Kamolnick, Paul|year=2005|title=The just meritocracy: IQ, class mobility, and American social policy|publisher=Praeger|location=Westport CT|page=87|isbn=978-0-275-97922-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Best, Shaun|year=2005|title=Understanding Social Divisions|publisher=Sage|page=32|location=London|isbn=978-0-7619-4296-2}}</ref> Young's essay pictured the United Kingdom under the rule of a government favouring intelligence and aptitude (merit) above all else, being the combination of the root of Latin origin "{{lang|la|merit}}" (from "{{lang|la|mereō}}" meaning "earn") and the Ancient Greek suffix "{{lang|grc-latn|-cracy}}" (meaning "power", "rule").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=meritocracy|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|access-date=3 July 2013|title="meritocracy" in the Online Etymology Dictionary|archive-date=11 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911142951/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=meritocracy|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''purely'' Greek word is {{lang|el-latn|axiocracy}} ({{lang|el|αξιοκρατία|italic=no}}), from {{lang|el-latn|axios}} ({{lang|el|αξιος|italic=no}}, worthy) + "{{lang|el-latn|-cracy}}" ({{lang|el|-κρατία|italic=no}}, power). 

In this book the term had distinctly negative connotations as Young questioned both the legitimacy of the selection process used to become a member of this elite and the outcomes of being ruled by such a narrowly defined group. The essay, written in the first person by a fictional historical narrator in 2034, interweaves history from the politics of pre- and post-war Britain with those of fictional future events in the short (1960 onward) and long term (2020 onward).<ref name="Young 1958">{{cite book |last=Young |first=Michael |title=The rise of the meritocracy, 1870-2033: An essay on education and inequality |date=1958 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London |oclc=3943639 |page=11}}</ref>

The essay was based upon the tendency of the then-current governments, in their striving toward intelligence, to ignore shortcomings and upon the failure of education systems to utilize correctly the gifted and talented members within their societies.{{sfnp|Young|1958|p=13}}

Young's fictional narrator explains that, on the one hand, the greatest contributor to society is not the "stolid mass" or majority, but the "creative minority" or members of the "restless elite".{{sfnp|Young|1958|p=15}} On the other hand, he claims that there are casualties of progress whose influence is underestimated and that, from such stolid adherence to natural science and intelligence, arises arrogance and complacency.{{sfnp|Young|1958|p=15}} This problem is encapsulated in the phrase "Every selection of one is a rejection of many".{{sfnp|Young|1958|p=15}}

It was also used by [[Hannah Arendt]] in her essay "Crisis in Education",<ref>[http://www.instituteofideas.com/documents/PGF_Arendt_Education.pdf "Crisis in Education"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014030134/http://www.instituteofideas.com/documents/PGF_Arendt_Education.pdf |date=14 October 2013}} (p. 4).</ref> which was written in 1958 and refers to the use of meritocracy in the English educational system. She too uses the term pejoratively. It was not until 1972 that [[Daniel Bell]] used the term positively.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Littler|first1=Jo|title=Meritocracy: the great delusion that ingrains inequality|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/20/meritocracy-inequality-theresa-may-donald-trump|access-date=14 July 2017|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=20 March 2017|archive-date=13 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713210234/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/20/meritocracy-inequality-theresa-may-donald-trump|url-status=live}}</ref> M. Young's formula to describe meritocracy is: m = IQ + E. The formula of L. Ieva instead is: m = f (IQ, Cut, ex) + E. That is, for Young, meritocracy is the sum of intelligence and energy; while, for Ieva it is represented by the function between intelligence, culture and experience, to which energy is then added.