Meritocracy: the idea that people should be advanced according to their talents rather than their birth. While this initially seemed like a novel concept, by the end of the twentieth century it had become the world's ruling ideology. How did this happen, and why is meritocracy now under attack from both right and left? In The Aristocracy of Talent, esteemed journalist and historian Adrian Wooldridge traces the history of meritocracy forged by the politicians and officials who introduced the revolutionary principle of open competition, the psychologists who devised methods for measuring natural mental abilities, and the educationalists who built ladders of educational opportunity. He looks outside western cultures and shows what transformative effects it has had everywhere it has been adopted, especially once women were brought into the meritocratic system. Wooldridge also shows how meritocracy has now become corrupted and argues that the recent stalling of social mobility is the result of failure to complete the meritocratic revolution. Rather than abandoning meritocracy, he says, we should call for its renewal.
This book provides a rare window on an exceptional and globally influential institution.
Jeremy Adam Smith , " How Budget Cuts and PTA Fundraising Undermined Equity in San Francisco Public Schools . " San Francisco Public Press , February 3 , 2014 , accessed November 18 , 2018 , https://sfpublicpress.org / news / 2014-02 ...
The best jobs in Britain today are overwhelmingly done by the children of the wealthy.
Despite these measures, however, the share of students from low-income families at selective colleges has changed little since 2000 and in some cases has drifted downward. The percentage of “first generation” students (the first in ...
In this “captivating account” (Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone), Matthew Stewart argues that a new aristocracy is emerging in American society and it is repeating the mistakes of history.
Aristocrats traces the history of this remarkable supremacy. It is a story of civil wars, conquests, intrigue, chicanery, and extremes of selflessness and greed.
William G. Bowen, Martin A. Kurzweil, Eugene M. Tobin, Susanne C. Pichler. Ramphele , Mamphela . 1996. " Embracing the Future . ... William J. Fowler Jr. , 93-120 . Washington , D.C .: U.S. Department of Education , National Center for ...
Surveys the history of educational testing in the United States, and discusses the ideas, the people, and the politics behind the system.
Hoffman responded when asked for the addenda, “I have not included the schedules and annexes as they are not available." One longtime partner had his goodwill percentage diluted by 5.5 percent and his profit percentage diluted by 10.6 ...
In the book that People magazine proclaimed “beguiling” and “fascinating,” Robert Greene and Joost Elffers have distilled three thousand years of the history of power into 48 essential laws by drawing from the philosophies of ...