贤能政治批判——新统治阶级  ［澳］海伦·安德鲁斯 吴万伟 译

贤能政治批评家应该质疑贤能政治基本原则的可靠性，并指出在实践中贯彻“选贤使能”的不可行性。英国公务员制度的两位改革者于1854年撰写的《诺斯科特特里维廉报告》引发公众的两极反应：自由派认为竞争性考试是最伟大的公共改革之一；保守派则担心计划在实践中行不通，以带有主观性的“根据功绩来晋升”取代根据资历晋升，为任人唯亲大开方便之门；将竞争推向社会的各个角落，可能对公务员系统的社会活力和弹性产生不良影响，而且违反民主问责原则。贤能政治会产生一种唯我独尊的中央集权，造成政府精神的转变，可能把英国社会变成由暴君和奴隶组成的两极世界。封建贵族试图阻止官僚阶级支配国家，却意外制造出了一个新贵族阶级，这无疑意味着社会之间相互监督制衡的脆弱系统的终结。

The New Ruling Class: A Critique of Meritocracy    Helen Andrews

The critics of meritocracy should be capable of question the validity of the fundamental principle of meritocracy and point out that it did not work in practice. Two reformers’“the Northcote-Trevelyan Report” of 1854 brought about polarized public reaction. Reformminded liberals praised that competitive examination was one of those great public improvements in history, but the mandarins warned that the report’s ideas would collapse in practice, replacing promotion by seniority with more subjective “promotion according to merit” would give free rein to favoritism. They also worry about what throwing competition open to all comers would do to the service’s social tone. Other objections are about the questions of democratic accountability. Meritocracy would produce an overweening centralized state, it would dangerously transform the spirit of government and turned British society into a world made up of despots and slaves. The old aristocracy attempted to prevent the plutocracy from dominating the state but ended in creating a new ruling class. This defeat indicated the end of the venerable system of social checks and balances. The solution to the problem of meritocracy was to let it harden into an aristocracy. The new ruling class are expected to overcome the besetting sinarrogance, both moral and intellectual, and to acquire the virtue of humility and finally owns up to the only name elites for what it already undeniably is.