The Legitimacy Work of Meritocracy

<div> This paper develops a political legitimacy account of meritocracy, arguing that meritocracy in liberal democratic states is not best understood as a neutral mechanism of socio-economic distribution or primarily as an ideological justification for inequality, but as a historically contingent practice through which states seek to render their authority acceptable to citizens. It advances the claim that political legitimacy in liberal democracies is grounded in evolving exercises of moral obligation arising from commitments to liberty and equality, and that meritocracy has emerged as one such obligation by translating these commitments into the language of equal opportunity and fair selection. Meritocratic practices in education, employment, and the civil service are therefore analysed as performative and justificatory acts through which the state demonstrates that advantage is distributed on grounds that appear consistent with democratic fairness. </div> <div> <br> </div> <div> It proceeds in three movements. First, it clarifies the conceptual relationship between meritocracy and political legitimacy, drawing on debates about the instability and conditional character of legitimacy in democratic contexts. Second, it introduces moral obligation as the bridging concept that links meritocratic practice to legitimacy, showing how states articulate and institutionalise obligations to their citizens in moments when authority requires renewed justification. Third, it treats meritocracy as an interpretive and practical mode of governance, sustained through discourses, rituals, and evaluative procedures that shape how citizens understand fairness, desert, and authority. </div>