Meritocratic governments
(South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia to name a few) and the
corporate world stress talent, education, and competence, rather than existing
differences such as social class, ethnicity, or sex. In practice, research on social
mobility indicates that all these supposedly neutral criteria favor the
children of those who are already privileged in some way. In a representative
democracy where power is theoretically in the hands of the elected
representatives, meritocratic elements include the use of expert consultants to
help formulate policies, and a meritocratic civil service (as opposed to the
bulk parastatal public employees) to implement them. The perennial problem in
advocating meritocracy is defining exactly what merit means
Hence, in devising a meritocratic state for Africa, we need to
look at several of the state functions that must as a necessity be accomplished
by well-developed teams and change agents. On the political governance arena it
is important that legislators lead the way. They must spend a minimum amount of
time in their electoral district to understand their role, and also need
mechanisms whereby public opinion can be made known to its members to have good
oversight over government. Members of the legislature must also have sufficient
access to a research service, library, information and technical resources and
technical staff to enable them to make informed decisions.
In analyzing the Executive Arm’s ability to perform, the first
question is whether there is a civil service, with appointments based on merit
that has inter alia minimum entry requirements (such as the Indian Civil
Service) and where large sectors of the population are not automatically
guaranteed a job in the public sector. This is an important point of departure
to evolve a clear system of promotion based on merit, with checks and balances
to ensure that this is implemented. This also enables the state to ensure that
specific functions are clearly described; chains of command clearly delineated
and avoid instances of promotion and appointment based on patronage.
Another important arena for consideration is if the
compensation for civil servants is comparable to that of other sectors; i.e.
the salary paid to civil servants is similar or even better (such as Banks and
airline) to that which they could earn in other sectors and ensure that there
are benefits and access to government structures that afford significant
attractions to join the civil service. Coupled with good remuneration packages,
the existence of alternative employment opportunities (such as in the fledgling
finance sector business community in Addis) for civil servants can render the
civil service a preferred profession; if career development is independent of
the executive branch or political parties.
Such a system of appointment based on merit will indubitably
ensure that budgetary policies and priorities are set correctly; projecting all
government expenditures on budget with a central, comprehensive budget, which
includes all state expenditures; and whose reports are publicly available
consistent with clear budget line-items. It also provides the incentives for
government ministries and departments to develop more cost efficient ways of
doing business as it enhances decentralization of resource generation and
allocation. Thus under such a HIGHLY capacitated
state, local authorities are able to collect revenue and program it for human
development and human security. It also means that local authorities develop
their own budgetary priorities and program and publicize budgets, revenues and
expenditures to the public that are subject to audit. In the arena of
participation and communication; it is significant that there is a range of
well-developed countervailing intermediary civic organizations that function
freely and openly; with organizations serving a variety of sectors of the
population, rural as well as urban. Such organizations as labor unions and
professional associations can peacefully function as political pressure groups
or which lobby for specific interests? In addition, independent institutions
such as policy or political and economic think tanks can vastly improve the
performance of such institutions
The most significant of all is the existence of a favorable
environment for private enterprise; with regulations and administrative
procedures, which need to be followed, that facilitate private ownership of
property and where private investment is permitted in all sectors. It follows
from this that the nature of the regulatory environment must change to make it
conducive to small-scale business, the informal sector and women entrepreneurs.
Questions that need to be asked in relation to this are - are there political
conditions and conditions on access to credit? Is there a functioning banking
system or is the system subject to arbitrary political manipulation? Do
government regulations on interest rates negatively affect private sector
activity? Are regulations governing investment, and import and export
procedures clear and easy to understand? Are the regulations supportive of, and
conducive to, private sector activity, or are they designed to exercise control
over it? Are the regulations consistent, or are there instances in which one
set of regulations are contradicted or overruled by another set?
These describe the salient elements of a meritorious state – a
discourse that has reigned over development theory since Socrates and Pluto.
The term 'meritocracy' was first used, in a depreciatory sense, in Michael
Young's 1958 book Rise of the Meritocracy, which is set in a dystopian
future in which one's social place is determined by IQ plus effort. In the
book, this social system ultimately leads to a social revolution in which the
masses overthrow the elite, who have become arrogant and disconnected from the
feelings of the public. Despite the negative origin of the word, a meritocratic
system is a good thing for society. Its proponents argue that a meritocratic
system is more just and more productive than other systems, and that it allows
for an end to distinctions based on such things as sex and race. Young's
central criticism of meritocracy was that a system in which social position is
determined by objective characteristics would still be inegalitarian and
unstable.
The three essential capabilities for human development are for
people to lead long and healthy lives, to be knowledgeable and to have access
to the resources needed for a decent standard of living. If these basic
capabilities are not achieved, many choices are simply not available and many
opportunities remain inaccessible. But the realm of human development goes
further: essential areas of choice, highly valued by people, range from
political, economic and social opportunities for being creative and productive
to enjoying self-respect, empowerment and a sense of belonging to a community.
With few exceptions, nations have failed to develop efficient and effective
bureaucracies that can win popular legitimacy – having relatively inauthentic,
human and material governance institutions and rules that can articulate,
aggregate and execute state budgets and a civic leadership that remain at best,
weak or underdeveloped.
Hence, in spite of its
short-comings, a merit based promotion, appointment and recruitment seems the
only way out of the vicious cycle of deprivation that we are in. The pioneering
exemplar work of our legislature in instituting the Addis Ababa city governance
can be a harbinger of many good practices in legislative management that are
yet to come and evolving strategies for the development and utilization of a
pool of critical human qualities at all levels and spectrum of society that
would provide the foundation and engine for development.
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