different between meritocracy vs democracy

English

Etymology

merit +? -o- +? -cracy, coined in 1958 by Michael Young in his book Rise of the Meritocracy.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /m????t?k??si/
• (US) IPA^(key): /m????t?k??si/

Noun

meritocracy (countable and uncountable, plural meritocracies)

1. Rule by merit, and talent.
2. A type of society where wealth, income, and social status are assigned through competition.

Usage notes

Though widely used as a term of praise, the term was originally coined as a satire, and a critique of awarding educational achievement.

Derived terms

• meritocrat
• meritocratic

Translations

References

English

Etymology

From Middle French democratie (French démocratie), from Medieval Latin democratia, from Ancient Greek ?????????? (d?mokratía).
Surface analysis: demo- (“people”) +? -cracy (“rule”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??m?k??si/
• (US) IPA^(key): /d??m?k??si/

Noun

democracy (countable and uncountable, plural democracies)

1. (uncountable) Rule by the people, especially as a form of government; either directly or through elected representatives (representative democracy).
   • 1866, J. Arthur Partridge, On Democracy, Trübner & Co., page 2:

     And the essential value and power of Democracy consists in this,—that it combines, as far as possible, power and organization ; THE SPIRIT, MANHOOD, is at one with THE BODY, ORGANIZATION. [....] Democracy is Government by the People.

   • 1901, The American Historical Review, American Historical Association, page 260:

     The period, that is, which marks the transition from absolutism or aristocracy to democracy will mark also the transition from absolutist or autocratic methods of nomination to democratic methods.

   • 1921, James Bryce Bryce, Modern Democracies, The Macmillan Company, page 1:

     A century ago there was in the Old World only one tiny spot in which the working of democracy could be studied. A few of the ancient rural cantons of Switzerland had recovered their freedom after the fall of Napoleon, and were governing themselves as they had done from the earlier Middle Ages[...]. Nowhere else in Europe did the people rule.

   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 24:

     Everyone who wanted to speak did so. It was democracy in its purest form.

2. (countable, government) A government under the direct or representative rule of the people of its jurisdiction.
   • 1947, Edwin L. James, "General Marshall Raises the Ideological Issue", The New York Times, March 16, 1947:

     Of course, the Russians think it is something else because they say the Russians have a democracy and it is plain that their government is not what the Americans regard as a democracy.

   • 2003, Fareed Zakaria, The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad, W. W. Norton & Company, page 13:

     In 1900 not a single country had what we would today consider a democracy: a government created by elections in which every adult citizen could vote.

3. (countable) A state with a democratic system of government.
   • 2018, Yascha Mounk, “America Is Not a Democracy”, The Atlantic, March 2018:

     The United States was founded as a republic, not a democracy.

   • 2002, Victor G. Hilliard, "The Role of Human Resource Development in South African Public Service Reform", in: Administrative Reform in Developing Nations, Praeger, page 179:

     After almost four decades of authoritarian rule, South Africa became a democracy in April 1994.

4. (uncountable) Belief in political freedom and equality; the "spirit of democracy".
   • 1918, Charles Horton Cooley, “A Primary Culture for Democracy”, in Publications of the American Sociological Society 13, p8

     As states of the human spirit democracy, righteousness, and faith have much in common and may be cultivated by the same means...

   • 1919, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, The Spirit of Russia: Studies in History, Literature and Philosophy, Macmillan, p446

     It must further be admitted that he provided a successful interpretation of democracy in its philosophic aspects when he conceived democracy as a general outlook on the universe... In Bakunin's conception of democracy as religious in character we trace the influence of French socialism.

Synonyms

• democratism (the principles or spirit of a democracy)

Coordinate terms

• (a form of government): monarchy, aristocracy, dictatorship

Derived terms

• arsenal of democracy
• superdemocracy

Related terms

• democrat
• democratic

Translations

References

• democracy at OneLook Dictionary Search
• democracy in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• "democracy" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 93.
• democracy in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.