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2024 | OriginalPaper | Buchkapitel

14. The Ethics of Meritocratic Competition

verfasst von : Malte Dold, Andrew Gewecke

Erschienen in: Law and Economics of Justice

Verlag: Springer Nature Switzerland

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Abstract

In this chapter we examine the preference-shaping power of meritocratic competition. On the centenary of Frank Knight’s influential thesis that systems of competitive selection can cause pervasive shifts in our values, we use recent advances in behavioural economics and psychology to develop this philosophical assertion into a more structured critique of meritocratic institutions. Drawing on Knight’s insights on the social context-dependence of preferences, we recommend that the use of meritocratic selection be subjected to public, iterative analysis that takes advantage of the norms of deliberative democracy. Meritocracy has notable strengths, including its emphasis on the priority of equality of opportunity and its direction of social activities towards efficiency. But even at its best, it can exercise a subtle and domineering effect on our values and our perceptions if it is applied excessively. In understanding where competitive norms can be deployed to positive effect, and where they might do more harm than good, we better equip ourselves to determine meritocracy’s proper boundaries.

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Vorheriges Kapitel Hierarchy, Efficiency, and Merit

Nächstes Kapitel Equal Opportunity in an Unequal Society

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Ibid.

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Ibid.

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Ibid.

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Id., CET Proposition 2, para. 1.

Id., Feedback and Competitive Outcome, para. 3.

Id., Ego-involvement, para 1, emphasis in original.

Ibid.

Butera et al. (2021), Conclusions, para. 2.

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Id., p. 39.

Id., p. 56.

Id., p. 47, emphasis in original.

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Ibid.

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Id., p. 583.

Id., p. 598.

Id., p. 617.

Id., p. 602.

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Ryan and Reeve (2021), Bright and Dark Sides, para 1.

Id., CET Proposition 2, para. 3.

See Miller (1999), p. 200.

Ibid.

See Bell (1972), p. 68.

A helpful blueprint for this type of theoretical work might be the capabilities approach developed by Amartya Sen (1999) and, later, Martha Nussbaum (2011). Such a project asserts that there exist some human capacities that a society should empower its citizens to cultivate if it is to be considered “minimally just” (Nussbaum 2011, 28). Within this paradigm, the resources allocated to each agent depend not only on conditions of merit, but also on conditions of justice.

See Scott et al. (2001).

Id., p. 762.

Id., p. 756.

See Emmett (2006), p. 102.

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Titel: The Ethics of Meritocratic Competition
verfasst von: Malte Dold
Andrew Gewecke
Verlag: Springer Nature Switzerland
Buch: Law and Economics of Justice
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-56821-3

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-031-56822-0

Copyright-Jahr: 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-56822-0_14

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