Meritocratic theory attributes income inequality to unequal skill distribution.

Evidence

This alternative view is based on a conception of the economy as a technical system, where work performance is based on technical competence. Inequality of income, power, and status, according to this technocratic-meritocratic view, is basi­ cally a reflection of an unequal distribution of mental, physical and other skills. The more successful individuals, according to this view, are the more skillful and the more intelligent. Since cognitive and psychomotor devel­ opment are vital and healthy components of individual psychic develop­ ment and can be provided equally according to the “abilities” of the students upon their entering schools, the compatibility of the three func­ tions of the educational system in capitalism is assured. — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 316

Categorization

• DEFINE: Codifies the technocratic-meritocratic position Bowles and Gintis will refute, showing it assumes inequality tracks skill differences.
• XREF: connects to: Policymakers framed 1960s poverty as unequal access to skills — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 318; People justify income inequality through education’s effort, time, and responsibility — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2221; Ambedkar distinguishes physical heredity, social inheritance, and personal effort as sources of inequality — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 907 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• People justify income inequality through education’s effort, time, and responsibility #expands (0.85) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2221
• Ambedkar distinguishes physical heredity, social inheritance, and personal effort as sources of inequality #expands (0.80) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 907