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:
“Merit at Courts, without favour, will do little or nothing; favour, without merit, will do a good deal; but favour and merit together will do everything.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“Each generation’s job is to question what parents accept on faith, to explore possibilities, and adapt the last generation’s system of values for a new age.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)