Meritocracy is the notion of a political system in which economic goods or political power are vested in individual people based on ability and talent, rather than wealth or social class. Advancement in such a system is based on performance, as measured through examination or demonstrated achievement. Although the concept of meritocracy has existed for centuries, the first known use of the term was by sociologist Alan Fox in the journal Socialist Commentary in 1956. It was then popularized by sociologist Michael Dunlop Young, who used the term in his dystopian political and satirical book The Rise of the Meritocracy in 1958. While the word was coined and popularized as a pejorative, its usage has meliorated. Today the term is often utilised to refer to social systems in which personal advancement and success primarily reflect an individual's capabilities and merits, frequently seen as equality of opportunity.
In the United Kingdom, the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, which is led by a cabinet of ministers chosen by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service official, also known as a public servant or public employee, is a person employed in the public sector by a government department or agency for public sector undertakings. Civil servants work for central and local governments, and answer to the government, not a political party.
A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government.
Stafford Henry Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh, known as Sir Stafford Northcote, 8th Baronet from 1851 to 1885, was a British Conservative politician. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1874 and 1880 and as Foreign Secretary between 1886 and 1887.
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.
Northcote railway station is a commuter railway station on the Mernda line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the north-eastern suburb of Northcote, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Northcote station is a ground level unstaffed station, featuring two side platforms. It opened on 8 October 1889.
Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan, 1st Baronet, was an English civil servant and colonial administrator. As a young man, he worked with the colonial government in Calcutta, India. He returned to Britain and took up the post of Assistant Secretary to the Treasury. During this time he was responsible for facilitating the government's response to the Great Famine in Ireland. In the late 1850s and 1860s he served there in senior-level appointments. Trevelyan was instrumental in the process of reforming the British Civil Service in the 1850s.
The Union Public Service Commission is a constitutional body tasked with recruiting officers for All India Services and the Central Civil Services through various standardized examinations. In 2023, 1.3 million applicants competed for just 1,255 positions.
The Civil service of Ireland is the collective term for the permanent staff of the departments of state and certain state agencies who advise and work for the Government of Ireland. It consists of two broad components, the Civil service of the Government and the Civil service of the State. Whilst the differences between these two components are largely theoretical, some fundamental operational distinctions exist.
The First Civil Service Commissioner heads the Civil Service Commission, a statutory body which ensures that appointments to the Civil Service in the United Kingdom are made openly and on merit, and hears appeals from civil servants under the Civil Service Code.
The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a standardized test in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to higher civil services in the Government of India, such as the All India Services and Central Civil Services.
Humphrey Trevelyan, Baron Trevelyan, was a British colonial administrator, diplomat and writer. Having begun his career in the Indian Civil Service and Indian Political Service, he transferred to HM Diplomatic Service upon Indian independence in 1947, and had a distinguished career during which he held several important ambassadorships.
The Public Service of Canada is the civilian workforce of the Government of Canada's departments, agencies, and other public bodies.
Sir Edward Ryan PC FRS was an English lawyer, judge, reformer of the British Civil Service and patron of science. He served as Chief Justice of Bengal from 1833–43.
The Civil Service Commission regulates recruitment to the United Kingdom Civil Service, providing assurance that appointments are on merit after fair and open competition, and hears appeals under the Civil Service Code. The commission is independent of government and the Civil Service.
Bureaucracy is a system of organization where decisions are made by a body of non-elected officials. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected officials. Today, bureaucracy is the administrative system governing any large institution, whether publicly owned or privately owned. The public administration in many jurisdictions is an example of bureaucracy, as is any centralized hierarchical structure of an institution, including corporations, societies, nonprofit organisations, and clubs.
The Public Service Commission of Canada is an independent government agency that safeguards merit-based hiring, non-partisanship, representativeness of Canada's diversity, and the use of both official languages in the Canadian public service. The PSC aims to protect the integrity of hiring and promotion within the public service. As well, the Commission works to protect the political impartiality and non-partisanship of public servants. The Commission develops staffing policies and provides guidance to public service managers and recruits Canadians into the public service. To ensure the staffing system in the government is properly maintained, the PSC has the authority to audit and investigate to ensure departments and managers make improvements. While typical government departments are headed by Ministers, the PSC is an independent agency that is headed by a President who reports to the Canadian Parliament.
In India, the Civil Service is the collection of civil servants of the government who constitute the permanent executive branch of the country. This includes servants in the All India Services, the Central Civil Services, and various State Civil Services.
An examination or test is an educational assessment intended to measure a test-taker's knowledge, skill, aptitude, physical fitness, or classification in many other topics. A test may be administered verbally, on paper, on a computer, or in a predetermined area that requires a test taker to demonstrate or perform a set of skills.
