merit system

American  

noun

1. a system or policy whereby people are promoted or rewarded on the basis of ability and achievement rather than because of seniority, quotas, patronage, or the like.

---

merit system British  

noun

1. the system of employing and promoting civil servants solely on the basis of ability rather than patronage Compare spoils system

---

Etymology

Origin of merit system

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

The restored merit system will apply to freshmen entering the school in the fall of 2023.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 23, 2022

Administrations in both parties have sought workarounds to ease hiring in recent years, getting permission from Congress and the Office of Personnel Management to forgo the competitive merit system.

From Washington Post • Aug. 12, 2021

Beginning with the Pendleton Act in the 1880s, the bureaucracy shifted away from the spoils system toward a merit system.

From Textbooks • Jul. 28, 2021

“The merit system of making appointments is in its essence as democratic and American as the common school system itself,” Teddy Roosevelt remarked in 1901.

From New York Times • Oct. 26, 2019

Civil service reform in the late nineteenth century reduced patronage and corruption and introduced a merit system that allowed blacks to get a foot in the door.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly