Table of Contents
Introduction: A Revolutionary Idea 1
Part 1 Priority, Degree and Place
1 Homo hierarchicus 25
2 Family Power 35
3 Nepotism, Patronage, Venality 47
Part 2 Meritocracy before Modernity
4 Plato and the Philosopher Kings 59
5 China and the Examination State 72
6 The Chosen People 86
7 The Golden Ladder 99
Part 3 The Rise of the Meritocracy
8 Europe and the Career Open to Talent 117
9 Britain and the Intellectual Aristocracy 144
10 The United States and the Republic of Merit 175
Part 4 The March of the Meritocrats
11 The Measurement of Merit 205
12 The Meritocratic Revolution 234
13 Girly Swots 256
Part 5 The Crisis of the Meritocracy
14 Against Meritocracy: The Revolt on the Left 279
15 The Corruption of the Meritocracy 306
16 Against Meritocracy: The Revolt on the Right 329
17 Asia Rediscovers Meritocracy 350
Conclusion: Renewing Meritocracy 367
Acknowledgements 399
Notes 401
Index 445