meritocracy

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)Rule by merit and talent.

   “As a small nation without natural resources, Singapore relies on education and meritocracy to develop its economy.”

   “In Markovits’s telling, the rise of the meritocracy is a story of unintended consequences.”

   “Its faculty has also been a factory of books taking differing positions on the merits and demerits of meritocracy and elite education.”

2. (countable, uncountable)A type of society where wealth, income, and social status are assigned through competition.