UPS and Downs of Maritocratic Principles of Public Policy

The author analyses the factors that weaken the influence of the principles of meritocracy on the institutions and public policy. He indicates that a meritocratic approach to governance in the programming of public actions has become a resource for obtaining legitimacy of power in Poland to a limited extent. The advantages of meritocracy (the “efficiency” and “justice”) have not been exploited on a significant scale. As a result, there is a significant illegitimacy of the democratic system, as well as the weakening of the society identification with the state. This phenomenon is  characterized by low prestige of politicians and a poor voter turnout. The author draws attention to the fact that meritocratic management mechanisms of public institutions in Poland are significantly reduced due to numerous factors – the appropriation of the state by political parties, institutional nomadism of the elite, the rules of political capitalism, a soft state and the institutionalization of non-responsibility or activities of various interest groups and backstage actors of politics