The merit system is the process of promoting and hiring government employees based on their ability to perform a job, rather than on their political connections. It is the opposite of the spoils system.
Famous quotes containing the words merit and/or system:
“Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried, or childless men.”
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626)
“Society cannot share a common communication system so long as it is split into warring factions.”
—Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956)